Monthly Clothing Purchases - July

I intended to have a very low spend month on clothing and accessories this month, but unfortunately, it wasn't to be, as you might have guessed. In all honesty, part of the reason was our holiday and the fact that my favourite sandals came apart on the day of LB's graduation ceremony. I ended up having to wear her trainers, that I'd taken for her to change into.

Although I managed to glue the sandals back together, I wasn't confident that they would last the holiday and I ended up buying a new pair. These are the ones I bought, and I am very happy with them:

They lasted well on holiday and we walked up and down many cobbled streets. I'm pretty sure my old ones wouldn't have survived the rigour. They were super comfortable too and went with lots of my dresses and skirts, but I did spend £23 on them, which was quite an outlay for me, as my previous favourites had cost £5 new from the charity shop.

In addition to this major purchase, I did also buy a few things from the ASOS sample sale in July, which were bought with the intention of taking them on holiday, but some things didn't arrive in time and others I chose not to take in the end.

I bought this striped top for £3, which is very cute, but sadly it is a bit too cropped and I didn't realise that it was made from a synthetic fabric, so I ended up not taking it. I will probably donate this.

 

I also bought these cotton espadrilles for £5, but they are a bit snug and I didn't want to risk getting blisters, so I've got them on shoe stretchers at the moment and I'm hoping they will stretch a little and be more wearable. It's always a gamble with these type of shoes. If they are too loose you walk out of them, if too tight they are unwearable and unfortunately these were the latter.

The items that didn't arrive in time were this one shoulder swimming costume 

which cost £2 and this cotton poplin leopard print blouse which cost £3

I also bought a swimming costume for LB for £2, but she didn't like it so I will keep this for myself.

At the beginning of the month, I also visited my favourite charity shop and came away with a few items. The first was an absolute steal for £1.

This linen/cotton dress is from Next and is a very pretty print and style. It is a bit low cut for me though, so I bought a royal blue cotton vest for £2 to wear underneath it. I didn't take them on holiday, but I am hoping to wear them now I'm home.

I also bought this lovely polycotton beach dress, made from an African design fabric, which cost £5. I do have a bikini top that is one shouldered and this dress is so light and airy that I thought it would be ideal to wear around the pool, which it was. It is so colourful too. I love it.

The only other items of clothing I bought this month were this black sleeveless tiered dress, that I bought from work for £10 in the sale. It is 100% cotton and I did intend to take it on holiday, but I took a couple of other favourite dresses instead, neither of which I wore. I have worn it since I got home and I love it as it is long and floaty. Great for days when you just want to wear something loose.

Finally, I bought this pair of viscose shorts on holiday from a small boutique. 

They were useful to wear around the pool, as I don't have many pairs of shorts, so for 8 euros they were quite a good price and will be useful for future holidays.

In total, I spent £61.29, which was more than I intended. I did get some bargains though and hopefully most items will get worn.  If I don't think that they will, for whatever reason, they will be donated, as very few of them cost more than a few pounds.

Next month, I'm hoping to do better, especially with no holiday on the horizon, to lure me into purchases. In addition, with my uncertainty about work, I'm not looking to spend money I don't need to. We'll just have to see what happens.

A Tough Week - W/E 9th August 2025 - Part One

This week, I was back at work on Sunday from 12 noon. It was another busy shift on a payday weekend, but one where a particular member of the team seemed to have an issue with me. I can't say too much at this point, but I came home feeling pretty de-motivated, as a consequence. It made me really reconsider whether I want to continue working there and in retail generally. It can be quite an aggressive workplace in many ways and I'm not altogether sure it aligns with my core values, but we all need to earn money somehow.

There have been so many changes in staff at work recently and the store doesn't have the same atmosphere. I'm sure it will settle down into it's own vibe eventually, but current indications are that it might not be one that I'm going to enjoy working in.  I also found out another member of staff may be leaving soon, to be replaced by someone I've had issues with in the past returning, so that isn't great either. This sounds like I'm difficult, but I'm really not. I keep my head down and just get on and do my job, but if people make a beeline for me, which they sometimes do, for whatever reason, it can be really unsettling. It's a pity, as most of the people I work with, I really like and get on well with.

Anyway, I was working again on Monday from 3pm and it was another super busy shift. A similar scenario ensued. It's starting to feel very personal and targeted, if I'm honest. Maybe I just need to seek them out privately and talk to them, but I'm not very good at confronting situations like this.  I managed to get through the shift without reacting, but the situation did make me feel very anxious and triggered, which is not a nice place to be. I was so grateful to get away and be off work for a couple of days, after a very stressful and long weekend of it.  Maybe I'm just too old for all this aggravation. (Literally!!) Life is way too short. I'm trying hard not to do anything rash though.

On Tuesday, I was so happy to wake up and not need to go to work. I had a bit of a lie in and then got ready and went out to the gym for a workout, after which I felt a lot better. I tried out a new machine in the gym, for assisted pull ups, which I haven't ever used before and it was quite fun. I was also watching one of the instructors teaching a small class of clients, which was interesting.

I have started to tentatively look for another job, but it's not that easy (at nearly 59) to get any job. Not every employer is happy to take on more mature workers. I know this from the last time I was job hunting. It took me 6 months of multiple job applications, before I was offered this job. Alternatively, I may consider trying to get a transfer to a different store closer to home, but it depends on whether they would be prepared to take me on.

Anyway, changing the subject, as I don't want to bore you, I decided to do another batch of jam making in the afternoon. It's the first chance I've had for a while and the freezer is full of berries (gooseberries and blackcurrants) to be processed, and I really needed to free up some space. I managed to make half of what was in there into jam and it made 3 jars, (two of them large) to keep us going. I also didn't burn my eye this time, as I remembered to put my glasses on.

There's still enough left in the freezer to make another batch and I'd also like to go out blackberry picking at some point. I've probably missed the best of them here, as they often ripen early especially after the hot weather we've been having. I see ripe ones on the bushes on the way to work, but I won't be picking them, as they are too exposed to traffic and fumes. I know some spots well away from traffic to pick from though.

Whilst the jam was cooking on the hob, I made time to sit in the garden with a cup of coffee and just enjoy my surroundings. I haven't had much chance to do this lately. I figured that if the worst comes to the worst and I do decide to leave my job, I'll have to get used to living much more frugally and on a much reduced income. I've done it before and know I can do it again. Maybe I've been way too spendthrift lately, on account of earning more money and it would do me good for a while. As a consequence of what's going on at work, I'm making sure to spend as little as possible this month, as my money may need to tide me over for a while in the near future.

I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on reading everyone's recent blog posts. I was over a week behind. It was lovely to visit with you all and catch up on your news. I also bought an Xmas present for LB on eBay. It was something that she wanted that was vintage and didn't cost a lot. I figure that everything I do buy from now on needs to count and besides, there's no harm in getting Xmas ready early.

The End of Our Holiday and Returning Home - W/E 2nd August 2025

As mentioned in last week's post, the last night of our holiday in Portugal was spent in the capital Lisbon.  We were due to fly home from there on Monday evening, so spent Sunday night here.

After packing, tidying and leaving the villa, we stopped off at a lake en route to Lisbon. It was a scorching hot day, so we just sat under a tree and watched  people happily engaging in water sports. OH took a swim, but LB and I didn't. We then stopped off to see a dam on the lake before driving to Lisbon and finding our apartment, which was situated in the Barrio Alto part of the city centre. This made exploring the city really easy, as it was so central and the street itself was lined with interesting little independent shops and cafes. 

We didn't have a whole lot of time to explore, but we went out walking and exploring in the evening, had cocktails in a nearby rooftop bar and supper in a restaurant. It is a lovely vibrant city, full of young people enjoying themselves and it felt very safe, although there were warnings to beware of pickpockets on crowded trams.

The city's ancient tram system ran past our apartment. It looked such fun, but we didn't actually ride on it. We did ride on an old funicular down the street, which took us down some steep streets to the waterfront area, where we caught a modern electric tram to Belem to take a look at MAAT, which is the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology. The building is beautiful with facades decorated with white ceramic tiles and it is situated on the river front with beautiful views of the Ponte de 25 Abril bridge which spans the River Tagus and takes you to the eastern side of the city.

We didn't have time to look around the museum, unfortunately, as we had to get back to the apartment and check out, but later we drove over the bridge to see the Christo Rei, which is a huge statue of Jesus Christ. It was well worth a visit and you can climb the monument to get great views, but the queues were long and we needed to get to the airport to fly home, so we didn't really have time. It is situated on the opposite side of the river,  and you get an amazing view of the statue and the city of Lisbon across the river.

It is a lovely spot set in beautifully landscaped gardens. From here we had to take the car back and catch a shuttle bus to the airport. There were some ongoing disputes with baggage handling staff at the airport, so some flights had been cancelled. Ours was a little late setting off, but we got home safe and well eventually, late on Monday evening.

We had a fantastic holiday, the Portuguese people are very hospitable and kind, but we were happy to get home and get back to normal life. I ate way too much amazing food and pastries and gained a few pounds during our stay, but I'm sure it will come off again pretty quickly. I would definitely go back, as there is much more to see and do that we didn't have time for in our short visit.

Waking up in our own home on Tuesday morning was lovely. I decided to skip the gym and just have a leisurely day unpacking, doing laundry and food shopping and just generally enjoying being home. The weather was significantly cooler, but we were glad of that, as temperatures in Portugal were in the mid to high 30's centigrade for most of our stay.

On Wednesday, I had promised LB a trip out to our nearest IKEA, as she wanted to buy a shelving unit as part of her bedroom makeover. I went to the gym early which felt good after a week without exercising, and then came back and showered and got ready to go out. We had lunch at IKEA and all the meals were half price with the Family card, so we had a cheap meal out for £6.60.

Once we'd had lunch we completed our shopping there and then stopped of at Home Bargains and did a few other bits of shopping on the way home. It was a busy day, but LB was very happy to be able to get everything she needed to complete her bedroom makeover.

Thursday, I was due back at work at 2pm. I had a quite leisurely morning, having a lie in, then showered and got ready for work before having lunch. Work started off steady, but soon got very busy, as it was pay day for many people, it being the last day of the month. There were a lot of final reductions, so I did do a bit of shopping in my break to take advantage of good prices. Some items were gifts that I put away for Xmas or my birthday and I bought a dress and a pair of jeans to wear for work, as some of my work pants are feeling a bit snug lately.

On Friday, I got up and ready to go to the gym again. I had a good workout and then came home for lunch. After lunch it was time to get ready for work at 3pm. Work was super busy, due to it being pay day weekend, so I was kept very busy all evening.

Saturday, I got up and had a leisurely morning. There was no free gym class, as it had finished for the summer. I was due at work for 3pm again and it was another super busy day/evening, with queues of people wanting to buy stuff. As a consequence, the shop was a mess at the end of the day and we were late finishing. It was nearly 11pm by the time I got home. Another two people left tonight, one of them a manager that I new was leaving, the other a staff member that I didn't know was leaving.

I was late to bed tonight, as it took a while to wind down from the day. I crawled into bed eventually at the end of what turned out to be a busy week.

Monthly Finances - July 2025

July has been a bit of a spendy month here, mainly on account of us going on holiday. The extra money that I'd earned in June, due to working lots of hours did come in very handy to give me spending money for the  holiday, but I did come back with quite a few euros which I will keep for another holiday.

I did make a few holiday orientated purchases before going away, which included some travel sized toiletries and some items of clothing/accessories, some of which were very solid purchases and others not so much and never actually came away with me. We live and learn though and I definitely fell fowl of a small spending spree before we went away.

Other than the holiday, I did spend some money on LB, buying her a few things for the holiday, as she came home from Uni pretty skint and was kept waiting by her landlord to get her deposit back, which is a whole other story that didn't end too well and completely enraged me, as it involved a cleaning fee of £310 which is completely ridiculous, when we left the flat cleaner than it was handed over to us. A very steep learning curve for her and us, but we were just glad to extract ourselves from that situation as quickly as possible. I don't envy people dealing with landlords these days as they seem to expect tenants to pay for things they should be providing. Another of LB's uni friends is apparently being sued by her landlord.

More was spent on food this month, mainly due to LB being home again, but the budget only went over by £100 or so and we are pretty well stocked up in the pantry cupboard.

In terms of savings, I did put £200 away into the car fund, £100 into an ISA account, won another £100 on the Premium bonds, which got reinvested, put £100 aside for Xmas/birthdays and rounded up balances in other savings accounts, so everything I needed to put aside was done. In addition. I gave LB cash here and there to tide her over until she got her deposit back and starts working and earning some money.

Next month, should be a pretty straightforward month with no holidays on the horizon. I should earn quite a bit more than usual, as I've been working more hours all month, so there should be a bit of excess cash to save here and there. I do need to try to rein in the spending a bit though and focus on looking after what I already own, as opposed to buying more stuff. I really need to give the house a thorough clean and tidy, as it has got somewhat neglected over the past few months whilst I've been really busy, but we'll just have to see if this happens.

I hope you've had a solid month financially.

A Holiday at Last - W/E 26th July 2025

This week started a bit differently. I got hardly any sleep on Saturday night as we needed to be up at 3.30am to head to the airport and catch a flight to Portugal for our annual summer holiday. It had been stressful in the lead up, due to working the three days before and late the night before we headed off. I just had to make sure that I was all packed and ready to go before I went to work on Saturday night. Even then, I didn't get to sleep until 1.30am, so I was shattered when I had to get up at 3.30am.

We got to the airport okay, but both mine and LB's hand luggage got searched and our toiletries put through a machine to check the contents, which took a while. I struggle to travel without my familiar products and despite decanting them, I probably still had too many. We eventually got through and got on the flight which was full. The school summer holidays had started, so the airport was particularly busy. Our flight set off at 6.30am ish, but luckily it wasn't a long flight to Portugal, probably 2 and a half hours, which is bearable. I was glad to get off at the other end though.

It was a bit cloudy when we landed, but the cloud soon dispersed and it started to warm up. It was only in the 20's (centigrade) thankfully. (It can get super hot in Portugal)  We had to get a minibus shuttle to pick up our hire car, but once we'd got it we were off to make our way to our rented villa. We stopped off in a town called Tomar, half an hour from our villa to have lunch and a wander around. It was a lovely historic town with lots of lovely independent shops. We had tapas for lunch and then headed to a supermarket to stock up before arriving at our villa around 4pm.

Our host was there to greet us and offered us a glass of wine and showed us around his villa. It was lovely, with a lovely pool and hot tub. I think we really lucked out this holiday. It was probably the best place we've stayed in yet. It was a lovely large villa in the countryside. Here is a picture of the lovely pool area:

We had a quiet night at the villa on arrival. We unpacked, had a swim in the pool, had a picky tea and then started watching The Bear series on Disney+, which was really good. After two episodes we were all falling asleep on account of our early start and so headed to bed.

On Monday morning, after a great night's sleep, we had a bit of a lie in and then got up and got some breakfast. We spent the day by the pool, only leaving the villa to get a few provisions to put on the BBQ later for supper. We bought these from a great little store that was a 10 minute drive away. It was like a combined hardware/grocery/mom and pop type store. It was great and had virtually anything you could want in it. It was nice to spend money with a small local store instead of a big supermarket. We then headed home and OH sparked up the BBQ for supper.

We had another day around the pool at the villa on Tuesday. It was a bit hotter though, so not as comfortable to sit out. OH and I did walk into a local village to go to the Post Office, but it was closed. It got us moving anyway. He needed to pay some tolls from our journey to the villa. 

I don't usually want to go anywhere when we first get to our holiday villa. I like to relax around the pool and decompress, but by day three we are usually ready to get out and about and this holiday was no different.

On Wednesday, we got up and ready and headed out to a market in the town of Coimbra. It takes place on the 7th and 23rd of each month and reviews online sounded great. It was a super busy market about 3km out of town. There were lots of stores selling local produce, so we stocked up on salad and fruit. There were also homeware stalls and even livestock for sale, which was a bit of a culture shock. We had lunch at the market where you could get a plate of chicken and fries with salad and a drink for a very reasonable price. It was very busy with lots of local families eating there. We had a lovely time.

We then ventured into the town itself ,which had a very historic university at the top of a hill, with a Unesco World Heritage baroque library. We walked up to the university, but didn't go into the library. It was a super hot day, but the town was beautiful and full of cobbled streets, small shops, bars and restaurants. It was tiring, but well worth a visit. We stopped off at a bar and tried an new to us Portugese pastry called a quejada, which was a kind of sweet tart made with cheese and eggs. It was lovely. Later, OH found a Post Office to pay the tolls and we were happy to hear that we didn't owe anything, as the technology wasn't yet switched on and working.

On Thursday, we stayed by the pool again for the day. We had such a lovely pool and villa, that we didn't feel inclined to go out too much. It was nice to just relax and enjoy doing very little.

Friday, we did venture out again and returned to the town of Tomar, where OH visited a historic convent at the top of the hill. LB and I decided not to go and instead walked down into the town to have a wander around the small independent shops. We had a very nice morning, topped up on a few food items and then headed home to chill by the pool in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, I got attacked by many mosquitos and ended up with lots of bites, as a consequence of sitting out a little later. Something I was not happy to repeat.

Saturday, was our last full day at the villa. In the morning, OH and I ventured to a local nature park, which had a lovely pool and beach for swimming. It was situated on the edge of a river where you could swim in the river itself if you wished. It was super busy with local families picnicing for the day. The Portuguese really know how to enjoy a good life, that's all I can say. We stopped to dangle our feet in the river. The water was super cold. Then we had a drink at the bar and headed back to the villa to spend our last afternoon there relaxing by the pool. We had had such a lovely relaxing stay, we were all feeling a bit sad to leave the villa, but Lisbon was calling, as we'd booked an apartment in the city for our final night, before flying back to the UK.

A Few Clothing Alterations

I've been making a few clothing alterations lately. After my last wardrobe sort out, I decided to alter a few garments rather than send them to the charity shop. 

The first item I decided to alter was this pair of plaid trousers from M&S. They are a linen blend and I bought them in a sale quite a few years ago, but have only worn them a handful of times. I just don't reach for them, as they are a little short, a bit too Rupert Bear for my liking and if I'm honest, weren't that flattering, unless I wore them with a long jumper.

Anyway, I decided to see if I could make them into a skirt, as they are well made and made from natural materials. I didn't know if there would be enough fabric to make a skirt, but in the end I was able to make a long pencil skirt from them. It is quite fitted, but I like it and hopefully I'll get more wear from the garment in this form. I managed to match the pattern well at the front, but not so well at the back, but then I don't see the back, so I'm not too worried about this. 

This particular skirt should be quite versatile, as it could be worn in the summer with sandals and being winter white in colour, could also be worn in the winter with tights and boots. Here's the finished skirt, which does need a bit of an iron:

The next item I decided to alter was a denim jacket that I bought 4 or so years ago. I've worn it quite a bit over the last few years, but since buying a new denim style jacket this year, which I prefer the design of, I haven't reached for this one. I'd seen lots of posts on Pinterest of embellished denim jackets, so I decided to embellish the centre back panel using some favourite fabric scraps from my stash. I hand stitched them in place using embroidery thread and I like the finished effect. Hopefully, I will reach for it a bit more now when the weather cools.

Another item I then altered was this charity shopped linen dress that I mentioned in last month's clothing purchase post. 

It has a lovely blue and white rose print, but I really didn't like the bodice, so I decided to cut it down to make a skirt. It already had a kind of waistband that I could thread with elastic, but I did have to remove a side zip and re-stitch the seam where it had been. It didn't take too long to do and I think I will wear it now that it is a skirt. Here's a picture of it in it's new skirt form:

I also decided to alter another dress from my wardrobe. This is another linen blend item, but I don't reach for it as a dress. I have worn it a couple of times, but it doesn't feel flattering.

I decided to cut it down to make a short shirt to throw on over a vest or t-shirt. I made it quite short, as this seems to be the fashion these days. Hopefully, I will wear it more now. Here's a picture of the finished item:

I like the outcome. It makes a nice little short jacket to wear on cooler days. I'm taking this on holiday with me.

I also altered a couple of other items. One was a linen blend top that I re-hemmed to make shorter and a couple of pairs of trousers that I elasticated around the ankles, as I prefer this style to having turnups.

As a consequence of all of these alterations, I feel like I've got a few new items in my wardrobe to wear, so we'll just have to see if I do wear them. I've got a few more alterations in the pipeline over the next few months, so I'll do another post when I've completed them.

A More Balanced Week - W/E 19th July 2025

This week was a lot more balanced and calm. On Sunday, I wasn't working for a change, which was great. It was so nice to have the day to do as I pleased. OH and I were considering heading off to a car boot sale, as I'd been working so many Sundays, I've not had the chance, but then when I thought about it, it seemed like a long way to go and I really didn't want to bring any more stuff into an already stuff filled house, so we decided to go to the tip instead and get rid of lots of things that had been cluttering up the landing upstairs. It felt great to get them out of the house, although I don't like throwing anything away, but sometimes it's just necessary.

On the way back from the tip, we stopped off in a local nearby cafe which was nice and had a drink and shared a cookie. Then before going home, we stopped off at the allotment and harvested potatoes, beetroot, french beans, lettuce (which we've got a glut of) and a few tomatoes. OH then watered whilst I did some weeding and then we headed home for lunch. It was a nice way to spend a couple of hours on sunny Sunday morning.

After lunch, I just chilled and even had a nap. In the evening, we watched a couple of episodes of the Yellowstone prequel series 1923, which is now available on Netflix. It was quite good.

On Monday, I got up and ready to go out and do the weekly shop out of town. LB wanted to come with me, as she'd not accompanied me for a while. Before going I had to contact the Dr.'s surgery about an issue that's been bothering me for a while (nothing serious) and they then wanted me to come in for an appointment mid morning, which spoiled our shopping plans, so we decided to shop locally instead. We'll go out of town one day later in the week.

Later, I made some pickled beetroot from the beetroot I'd harvested from the allotment over the last couple of weeks. It made a large jar, which should keep me going for a while.  I then had to get ready for work, as I was due there at 4pm. Work was super busy tonight, for a Monday anyway, but it did pass very quickly, which was good. I was glad to get home knowing I had a couple of days off.

Tuesday, was the day of LB's graduation ceremony, so we had to be up early to get ready and get into town for 9.30am. It was held at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank in London. We had a lovely day. The ceremony was interesting. As it was for art students, it was a lot less stuffy than my own graduation ceremonies. Maybe all graduation ceremonies are less stuffy these days and more enjoyable occasions, I don't know as I haven't been to one for over 25 years.

Anyway, after the ceremony OH, LB and I went to a nearby restaurant for lunch and then she went off to join her friends to continue celebrating, and we headed home to chill for the rest of the day. It's quite tiring travelling into town for anything these days, especially at rush hour. I find the crowds and the noise quite overwhelming.  It was nice to get back to the peace and quiet of our house.

On Wednesday, I didn't need to go anywhere, so I had a lovely lie in before getting up and ready for the day. I had a few chores around the house to do, and a few bills to pay, but once that was done and I'd had some lunch I settled into doing a bit of sewing. I needed to hem a blouse that I'd cut down from a dress that was way to short for me to comfortably wear. I also finished the waist facing on the patchwork skirt and attached it to finally finish it. I'll post a picture in another post at some point.

LB had stayed out all night at her friends' house, so she didn't come home until later in the afternoon.

Thursday morning I headed to the gym first thing for my first workout of the week which I enjoyed. I was intending to go out of town with LB when I got back, but work changed my starting time for my shift later in the evening, which didn't leave enough time to go, so we rearranged it for Friday morning when we can set off earlier.

When I got back from the gym I had a relaxing rest of the day until it was time to go to work.  Work was very busy tonight, so it passed very quickly, which I like. I bought a few items, one being an Xmas present for OH. I'm starting early this year.

On Friday morning, I had to go to the doctor's for a blood test. LB came with me and then we headed straight off to shop out of town. We went to our favourite charity shop, but I didn't find anything I wanted to buy. I bought a couple of small items for LB, but that was it. I did drop off a couple of bags of donations too, so it was good to get those out of the house and get some space back.

I had to get back by 1.30pm to get some lunch and then head to work for 3pm. Work wasn't too bad tonight. It was busy, but I did get a couple of difficult customers that caused me a bit of a headache. I was glad to get home at the end of the night.

I got up early on Saturday morning to go to my last free gym session of this term. It was raining all morning, which I was glad of as the garden and allotment needed it. I just took my umbrella and walked to the gym. It was refreshing to get a break in the hot weather. My gym session was good and then I came home and had some lunch before getting ready to go to work for 2pm. Another busy shift tonight and a later than usual finish at 10.15pm, as there was a lot of tidying up to do after the store closed. Super happy to get home tonight.

Another week comes to an end. They are passing so quickly this summer. Hope you had a good one.

Finally, a Normal Week - W/E 12th July 2025

It will come as no surprise that this week started with a shift at work on Sunday. I was working 1pm until 6pm. This coincided with a street party down our street, organised by our neighbour. As a consequence of working I couldn't attend, but everyone seemed to have a good day, according to messages on the street chat, despite a bit of rain here and there. OH missed the party too, as he was travelling back from his mum's that day.

On Monday morning I woke at about 4am to the sound of rain outside, which was very welcome. It's been so dry for so long, the garden and allotment really needed a good downpour and the water butt got refilled, which makes watering so much easier.

Later, I got up and ready and headed out to do the weekly shop. There was quite a bit of grocery shopping to do this week as we'd run out of quite a few things and I had to bear in mind LB being home now, so the grocery bill was higher, but such is life. I just had enough time to put the shopping away, when I got home, before I had to get ready to go to work again in the evening. It was my last shift for a couple of days, thank goodness, as I needed a break and a couple of free days doing what I pleased. It was a super busy shift at work, but we did get off half an hour early, which was good.

It was lovely to get up on Tuesday morning and know that I didn't need to go anywhere all day, if I so wished. I decided not to go to the gym, as I've got a slight niggle in my neck and I don't want to make it worse. I didn't want to go to my usual class at the gym either, as I'm not enjoying it so much lately. Besides, after being so busy for the past couple of months, it was lovely to just have a free day ahead of me. 

I started the day with a bit of blogging over breakfast and then got dressed and ready for the day. I spent the morning going through some of the things that LB is throwing out. Sometimes, I keep the odd thing if I think I'll wear it or use it. There wasn't much I decided to keep. I sorted it all out according to where I'm going to take it and then went through my own donations in the same way and decided to hang onto a couple of things I'd put aside to donate. I now just need to drop everything off where I'm going to donate it and then do a tip run with the furniture bits, but OH had the car, so I couldn't do it today.

After lunch, I topped and tailed the blackcurrants and gooseberries I'd harvested at the weekend and started to make the first batch of jam with some of them, as the freezer was getting way too full. I made 2 and a half jars in this batch, but I'll be making a couple more batches before I'm finished, so we should be okay for jam for a while. I did have a slight accident whilst making the jam, some jam spat out of the pan and into my eye, which was very uncomfortable. I had to use some eyedrops afterwards. Who knew that making jam could be so hazardous. I'll have to wear my glasses next time.

Inspite of this, it was lovely to just stay home today and do these jobs in the house, it felt like a luxury after being out and about so much in the last few weeks, working and going to college. I've missed spending time at home pottering.

On Wednesday, I woke up and read my book for a while. I'm reading a book called Craftfulness at the moment and I'm quite enjoying it. It is all about the therapeutic effects of crafts and crafting. I got up and had breakfast and then decided to take some of the donations to the donation bank to free up some space in the house. On the way back, I stopped off at the allotment and harvested the rest of the gooseberries and blackcurrants, getting scratched to bits in the process.

Later, I got my sewing machine out and did a little work on my patchwork skirt, sewing on the pockets. I also altered a dress to a skirt for LB, elasticated the bottom of another pair of trousers to make them more wearable and finished another alteration I had started last week.

Another job I did, was to put these guys through the washing machine before they get donated. They've had a bit of tumultuous day being spun around in the machine and then sat outside in the sun to dry. I'm sad to see them go, it feels like the end of an era. I wanted to donate them clean, to give them the best chance of finding a new home. They're a motley, but lovable crew, with lots of memories attached. Why are soft toys the hardest to part with? I think it's because we anthropomorphise them, which makes it harder to let go.

I also did some laundry, so that I have clothes to wear for work when I return tomorrow. I heard today that another manager is leaving work at the weekend. So many people have left the store this year. It feels like a mass exodus.

On Thursday morning, I got up and got ready to head off to the gym. It was my first gym session of the week. I enjoyed my workout and then came home. LB was going out thrifting locally, so I got changed and accompanied her. We started in a local charity shop, where I also took some donations, to clear a bit more stuff out of the house. I didn't find anything I wanted to buy, but LB found an item, so I purchased it for her as something she could take on holiday with her.

We then continued into the town centre. Neither of us found much we liked. LB bought a few bits to accessorize an outfit and I bought  a storage solution for her bedroom, which cost £2.50, but other than that, we didn't spend much. I dropped into the Post Office and got some currency for a forthcoming holiday in Portugal, so that was another task completed.

I had lunch when we got home and then had to get ready for work in the evening. Work was steady, but I was given lots of tasks to do, so I kept busy and it passed quickly.

Friday, was a much lazier day. I had a bit of a lie in, as I didn't need to go anywhere. I then got a text saying I needed to pick up a prescription, so after doing a bit of housework, I walked up to the pharmacy. It was so hot out. I didn't do a lot else before getting ready for work. It was nice to have a quiet day.

It was just as well that I had a quiet day because work was crazy busy. By the end of the night my head was spinning. I was so glad to get home and decompress.

I was up early on Saturday morning to head to the free gym session. I had a good workout, but was a bit disgruntled when some guy spent 40 minutes on one machine that I wanted to use, and I just couldn't get on it for the whole hour I was in there. Some people are very selfish. I never monopolise a machine for that length of time, especially if it's the only one in the gym. Also, many of the things he was doing on it, he could have done elsewhere, but instead he just chose to hog this particular machine and prevent anyone else using it. Not good gym etiquette.

I stopped off on the way home to buy a few top up grocery items and then just chilled when I got home. It was nice to be able to sit in the garden for 10 minutes in the sun, without there being any builders next door. We only get to do it on weekend mornings. In all fairness, it's a bit too hot to sit out anyway.

I was working again on Saturday evening, so I had a few hours to do what I pleased before I needed to get ready. I decided spend an hour doing a bit more sewing upstairs and completed the side seams and hem on my patchwork skirt. I now just need to complete the waist facing and it will be finished. I may post a picture, but it's a bit crazy and I quite like it.

Work was steady, but not overly busy for once on a Saturday night. Another colleague left tonight, that I didn't know was leaving. When I got home OH and I watched a couple of episodes of 1923 on Netflix which were quite good, but it did mean we were late getting to bed at the end of another not quite so busy week.

The Luxury of Free Time at Last - W/E 5th July 2025 - Part 2

Towards the end of this week, I've finally found myself with a bit of free time on my hands and it has been wonderful. I am having to work every evening, but I get the mornings and a couple of hours in the afternoon, to do as I please, which feels like a luxury to me.

On Thursday morning, I got up and did some more sewing. I started some more clothing alterations by hand, gradually working my way through quite a big pile of things that I'd set aside to work on when I had the time. 

LB spent the day re-organising her bedroom and starting to unpack some of her things. It's a bit messy in there at the moment, but I'm sure she'll get it how she wants it eventually. I think we're going to need a tip run in the near future to get rid of some of the things she no longer wants to keep, which does include some furniture that she's had since she was at school, but which we can now let go of.

Work was busy on Thursday night. More people have left or are leaving. It's quite a transitional time there at the moment, so more recruitment is in the pipeline. As a consequence, I've got a lot of hours over the next couple of weeks, but at least when I'm not at work, my time is my own to do as I please.

On Friday, OH set off on his bike with a few friends, to cycle up north and visit his mum and brother who is now being looked after at home. He's still got a lot of health problems, but at least he is back in his own home, which is something. I spent Friday morning and part of the afternoon working on more clothing alterations. The pile is slowly going down and the sewing room is gradually getting tidier and more organised. I've made a separate post about the alterations I've been doing.

Work was steady tonight, but passed quite quickly, so wasn't too bad. I fell into bed exhausted at 11.30pm which was early for me after work, as I normally need at least a couple of hours before I feel ready go to bed, which tends to be no earlier than midnight.

I was up early on Saturday morning to go to the free gym session. I got an email this week telling me that it will not be running in the current venue from September due to a refurbishment of the building. I'm waiting to hear where they move it to and will soon be looking for a new gym for the next 3 years. I may have to go back to havimg a monthly membership somewhere. I would preferably like to go somewhere within 15/20 walking distance.

Thankfully, the weather was a lot cooler on Saturday. It felt like respite from the heat. When I got home, I pottered around watering the indoor plants. I haven't been a very good plant mum lately, but they seem to be surviving my neglect. I then watered outside in the garden and did a bit of pruning and tidying up before lunch.

After lunch, it was the turn of the allotment. Although we had a miniscule shower of rain, it wasn't enough, so I headed over and picked some more gooseberries, lettuce, blackcurrants and cucumbers and gave it all a good soak, which should be enough until OH comes home on Sunday. We had a site inspection this week and had to clear the paths of weeds, but it sounds like it went okay.

By the time I'd finished at the allotment, it was time to shower and get ready for work. LB was heading out to a club in the evening, so I wasn't expecting to see her until sunrise or the following day, as she was possibly going to stay at a friend's house.

I was working on a different section from usual at work, which although it's not my favourite, made  a change from where I've been working lately. It was super busy for most of the evening, so the time passed pretty quickly. Then it went a bit quiet, so there was plenty of time to tidy up and we all got away half an hour early, which was good.

A positive end to a slighly less busy week for once.

Monthly Clothing Purchases - June 2025

I'm afraid it's a long one this month. I got off to an early start in terms of buying clothes, when I ordered this dress on Vinted, that was being sold by someone that I follow on YouTube. 

It cost £5.70 including postage, which was very reasonable. Although I like the fact that it is leopard print, I'm not entirely sure that I will wear it as a dress. I may just use it as a night dress or to wear around the pool or on the beach on holiday, as I'm not sure it's really my style. A bit of a fashion fail to begin with, but not an expensive one.

I then visited my favourite out of town charity shop during the first week of the month and came away with the following few items:

This floral sleeveless top came home with me, as I thought it was very pretty. I think it is made of viscose and cost £2.

I bought this classic navy linen/cotton top for £3, which I intend to shorten a little. Excuse how crumpled it looks, I took it out of the ironing basket to take this photo.

This black and white ditsy print dress was probably my favourite purchase. It's fairly flattering on and I've worn it a couple of times already. It's nice and floaty and cool for the summer and is made of viscose. It cost £5.

Finally, I bought this linen dress. It isn't really my style, but my intention is to cut it down to make a skirt. I like the colour and print and the fact that it is linen, I just don't like the top half of it. It also cost £5, which I think is very reasonable for a linen dress.

 

I did buy one item from where I work this week, namely this gym top for £8. I really like the colour and the sleeveless style. It is a little sng around my midriff, which isn't yet honed, but I'm hoping to get good use out of it.

My final clothing purchases from charity shops this month were the following items:

First, was this Miss Selfridge sundress. It is a lovely print, but I didn't like this as a dress on me, as it wasn't too flattering at the back, it seemed to create a shelf around my backside. As a consequence, I intended to make it into a skirt, but when LB came home, I showed it to her and she liked it, so she is going to keep it and wear it as a skirt. This cost £5, but is made of cotton, making it good value.

Second, was this 100% cotton top. This is quite a thick cheesecloth like cotton fabric, but I liked the style of the neckline. I have significantly shortened what where crazily long and voluptuous tiered sleeves, which were a bit too impractical and dramatic for me and I may yet shorten it a few inches as it is quite long. This cost £3, which is good value for cotton and I can see myself wearing this with lots of skirts and trousers in my wardrobe on cooler days. It could also be worn for work too.

I also bought this black longsleeved cotton t-shirt. I wear these kind of tops a lot in the autumn/winter, as they are great layering pieces. This one had a pretty flower/plant print, was new with tags from M&S and was cotton. I'll look forward to wearing it the autumn/winter. It cost £3.

Next, I bought this pair of grey pinstriped cotton summer trousers for £3. They are nice and loose and light for wearing in the summer months. They do look a bit like pyjama bottoms, but I don't mind that. I may do my favourite thing of elasticating the bottoms as I find this style more flattering and wearable, but I haven't decided yet.

This pretty cotton shirt went quite nicely with the trousers above. It is 100% cotton with a paisley print and a ruffled sleeveless design. At just £3, it was not a difficult decision to bring it home with me.

Finally, I bought this Linen/Cotton mix button down skirt for £2. It was a much bigger size than I wear, but I have taken a big chunk out of it at the back, creating a new seam to reduce it in size. I like this button down style and it has pockets too, what's not to love. 

For £19, I think I did okay on this particular visit, as I got some great pieces made from more natural fabrics for an absolute steal. In total though, I spent £52.20 this month, which is a little less than I've spent in recent months, but I did get a lot of items of arguably better quality, so I'm very happy with what I bought.

As always, I'm hoping to buy less next month, but I'm sure I've said this before and then gone on to spend the same or more money on clothes.

 

Finally Seeing The Light at the End - W/E 5th July 2025 - Part 1

This week was a week of finally seeing the light at the end of what feels like a long tunnel, but which has only been a couple of months in reality. They've been an intense couple of months though, that's all I can say. On Sunday, I wasn't working for the first time in weeks. I got up and did some financial stuff, as it was virtually the end of the month. I then did some laundry and went out to do the weekly shop locally. I had a voucher for 10% off to use at Lidl and as we were going to collect all of LB's stuff from her flat on Monday, I wouldn't be able to do my weekly shop then, so it had to be done a day earlier.

By the time I got home and unpacked the shopping, it was lunchtime, so I had some lunch, did the washing up, hung out my laundry and then finally got down to working on my college work, which was the whole point of having the day free. It took the whole of the rest of the day to get it done and send some of it off to my tutor, but by 11pm I was finished and could finally go to bed knowing that I'd done my best. I may need to make some alterations if I get some feedback, but I'm hoping I've done enough to pass and just submit everything. The test will be on Wednesday when I go into college for the final sign off. 

On Monday, I woke early and read for a little while in bed before getting up. We needed to head out quite early to go over to LB's flat and load up all her stuff into a van and bring it home. We set off about 9.20am and got there for about 11 am. I got straight down to the cleaning. It was pretty bad, as LB had been busy with her uni work and the cleaning had been put on the back burner for months.

OH gradually loaded all of her stuff into the van and we managed to get the living room and LB's bedroom cleaned fully. We vacuumed the rest of the flat and then had to take the vacuum home and leave LB to do the rest, so that we could get the van back in time and also miss any traffic that builds up around rush hour. We got home about 4ish and unloaded the van, putting most of LB's stuff in her bedroom for her to sort out when she came home. She was due to have an inspection and hand over the keys the following day, so she stayed at the flat for a last night to get the rest of the cleaning done and do the handover. Her flatmate had already moved out earlier in the week and gone back home.

On Tuesday morning I got up and ready to go to a class at the gym. I did a bit of cleaning before heading out, ready for LB coming home later in the day. The class was okay. I dropped into the charity shop on the way home, but there was nothing that appealed to me. It's rare for me to come away empty handed, but ti does happen sometimes. 

Later, I got ready and headed out to my sewing class. It was so hot. I was glad of the air conditioning in the classroom when I got there. I did some more work on my dress. I finished the bodice and finally figured out the sleeves and then attached the bodice to the skirt, so it's slowly coming together. I think the next job will be putting in the zip down the back and then putting some elastic in the sleeves, before I tackle the neckline. I'll have to see if I can do it at home on my own following the pattern. I just need an invisible zipper foot for my machine before I can insert it.

I finished my book from the library where I go to my class and returned the remaining books I had taken out, as I won't be going back there for a while. The library is being refurbished, so all the sewing classes are being transferred to another venue in September. I'm not sure if I'm going to return. I may do, if I can get a place.

When I got home, LB was in bed asleep. I imagine she's got a lot of sleep to catch up on after a super busy final term and then moving out of the flat. It's lovely to have her back home for however long it may be for. I was very tired tonight and retired to bed early, as I had to be up early for my last day at college the following day. I'm going to be so happy when it's all done and I finally get some free time for sewing and doing other things I enjoy.

I was up super early on Wednesday morning, getting ready for college and making sure that I took everything I needed to submit with me. The tutor spent and hour making sure we had completed all of the required pieces of work and then she went off to do an assessment on another student.  When she got back she signed off all of my work and I was free to go which felt good. I then went to the gym to do a last session. At this point, I'll explain that the course I was doing was to gain a Certificate in Gym Instructing. As part of the course, we got free membership to the gym that the college uses for it's sports students, so I got to work out for free once per week for the duration of the course.  It was useful to get to know the gym environment too, especially when it came to practical assessments, which we did in there.

Some of my fellow students came into the gym later to do an assessment, so I arranged to meet up with one of them when they'd finished and we had lunch and a chat, as I'd not seen her for weeks. We'd all been off preparing for and doing our assessments at different times. I then left and came home. It felt strange to have finally finished.

When I got back home, I spent the afternoon sewing, as I'd just had no time at all to do any (save for at my sewing class). I altered a skirt and top I'd bought from the charity shop a couple of weeks ago, so both are now wearable. A sun dress I was going to alter and make into a skirt, I gave to LB as she liked it and she's going to wear it as a skirt. 

I also did quite a bit of work on a patchwork skirt that I started back in May. It's coming together nicely. Whether I'll be brave enough to wear it is another matter. By the time I'd finished for the day it was supper time, so I packed up until I next have some spare time to sew. It was lovely to get back to my sewing projects though. I've really missed having time to work on them.

Monthly Finances - June 2025

Financially, it was quite a good month in June. I got paid less than I have for a while, as I'd not been given many hours in May. This changed drastically from the end of May, as I was scheduled for as many as 30 hours per week some weeks, due to staff holidays, which has frankly been exhausting, but the money I've earned will come in very useful. It didn't come at a great time, as I was busy with my college course, but as a consequence, I've not spent as much money as I have done in other months, in fact, my expenditure was the least it's been since last September, which is good.

One of the main reasons, it's been a good month is that I got a £500 or thereabouts tax rebate.  This was used to pay off some dental treatment on my credit card and I put some away into savings, i.e. the car fund and other accounts. It really saved me this month. I also won £100 on the Premium bonds again, which was fortunate and which got reinvested and I got some dividends from some shares I own to the tune of £150, which also got put into savings. So quite a fortuitous month for me really. I cannot grumble.

On the expenditure side of things, I overspent slightly on food, which is a regular occurence these days, probably due to prices rising constantly. This will go up more from July, when LB comes back home, but it's worth it to have her home. I overspent a little on household and miscellaneous expenditure. The latter was mainly due to buying a new cabin case for our summer holiday.

I spent nothing on our home and garden this month, but then overspent on myself to help get me through a very busy month. I bought a weighted vest for walking in, spent £80ish on mostly thrifted clothing and other bits and pieces. This took me way over my £25 thrifting budget, but I consider this a necessary slip for my mental and emotional health during an exhausting month. I also bought some fabric for a new project, I spent £37 on gifts and made some charitable donations. I was pretty happy with how it panned out.

Moving into July, we are planning a holiday this month, so I will need some spending money for that. Luckily, all the overtime I've worked will nicely cover this. I don't have any birthdays or anything to buy gifts for, so other than the holiday, it's a regular month. However, LB will be back home and I may treat her to some things.  She probably needs an outfit for her graduation this month and she may need a few bits for the holiday, so we'll see where that takes me. 

I am looking forward to July, once I've finished my college course. It will signify freedom for me from trying to juggle too much at once. Self inflicted, of course. I'm itching to do more sewing, that I just haven't had time for recently, and as soon as I have the time I will be getting the sewing machine out, which should keep me out of the shops, but I can't promise this.

I hope you've had a financially stress free and enjoyable month.

Still Trying to Get Everything Completed - W/E 26th June 2025

This week started with another 12 noon til 6pm shift at work on Sunday. It was a busy shift and I was late getting home and felt a bit stressed. OH was still out when I got home, as he'd been cycling, so I decided to do the washing up, as there was a massive pile from the previous few days. When he got back, he made supper and I chilled for the evening, writing my grocery shopping list for the next day and catching up on a bit of YouTube/blogging, before heading to bed quite early.

On Monday, I was looking forward to being able to head off to do the weekly shop out of town, with no shift at work to get back for. As a consequence, I could take my time and enjoy the day, for the first time in a few weeks. There were quite a lot of things that I needed to buy, as we'd eaten down most of the food in the fridge and freezer, so it was quite an expensive shop this week, but it was the last grocery shop of the month. I just had to make sure that I kept spending to below the amount that I had left in my bank account, which I did.

I visited my favourite charity shop whilst out, and yes, I did buy more items of clothing and go even more over on my thrifting budget, but I justified it to myself as a treat, after having had such a busy and stressful few weeks. Not ideal, but I don't care. I like the things I bought, some of which I will be altering to make them more wearable and some that I'll wear just as they are. Once again, I looked solely for natural fibres of which I managed to find a few nice things. I'll post about them in my monthly clothing purchases post at the end of the month and some of them will no doubt feature in future clothing alteration posts.

When I got home, I unpacked the shopping and chilled for a few hours before making supper. I even went to bed for an hour for a nap.  When I got up I started doing some college work whilst making supper. I did some research and made some notes about another piece of work I have to do and then input quite a bit of work I'd already done onto the computer ready for submission. There's still quite a bit more I need to do this week before final submission on Monday next week. I'm just hoping I can get it all done, along with the final practical assessment that I have on Wednesday this week. I may need to arrange a tutorial with my tutor to get some feedback on some of the work before finally submitting it.

LB informed us today that she didn't get a post graduate internship that she'd been interviewed for last week. We were a bit disappointed for her, but if it's not meant for her so be it. I'm sure something else will come her way and she seemed philosophical about it, which is good. It would have provided her with valuable experience, but it obviously wasn't meant to be. She did well to get an interview though, so we're proud of her whatever.

Tuesday morning, I got up early and booked into an early session at the gym. I didn't go to my usual class again, as it is a bit later in the morning. This way, I had time to do more college work before going to my sewing class.

I almost didn't go to my sewing class, but decided it would be nice to do something enjoyable and sociable. There were only two classes left to attend. I had been having problems attaching the sleeves to my dress. Whichever way I tried, I kept ending up with extra fabric. It took me to cut out new sleeve pieces to realise where I'd gone wrong. I'd sewn the wrong sleeve pieces together, which was silly of me. Anyway, I managed to get one sleeve sewn on and the other will have to wait until next week now. I won't be finishing this dress this term. It may have to be a project for next summer, unless I can manage to finish it at home somehow. Everything has just got away from me in recent weeks.

I've felt under a lot of pressure this week, to get all of my college work done, so some things have had to take a back seat until next week, when it's all finished and submitted. An added pressure is that we are moving LB out of her flat and back home next Monday, which is college hand in day, so I needed to get everything for college done before then and I was also scheduled to work quite a lot of hours towards the end of the week too. This meant that I had to make the most of my time at the beginning of the week.

On Wednesday morning I had my final practical assessment at college. I was pretty nervous going in. We do the assessments in pairs and this time my fellow student went first, which helped me get into the right mindset and calm my anxiety. I was still a bit nervous when it came to my turn, but it went okay and we both passed the assessment, which was great. I now just need to complete the written coursework and then attend college next Wednesday for the final sign off, to make sure we've done everything we need to. It feels like a big weight off my shoulders, to know that I've passed the practicals. I now just need to make good use of what time I have left to do the coursework. I'm glad I stayed the course, instead of opting out of the practical assessments, it's definitely been worth the effort and I've learned a lot in the process.

When I got home, I just chilled for a couple of hours after lunch. It's all been a bit manic these past few weeks. I just needed to decompress and reset. We got some good news from LB today, in that she'd got her degree grading and she'd done really well, achieving a 2:1 for her work. We were both super pleased for her, as she's worked very hard these last two years.

I was due back at work on Thursday afternoon, so I spent the morning doing very little. I did do a bit of college work and am slowly getting on with the coursework, bit by bit. I started work at 3pm, but went early as I needed to collect a suitcase I'd ordered from our local ASDA store. I was happy with it when I got it. Work was busy. I guess it's another Payday weekend, so lots of people were out spending money. 

Friday morning, I got up and had breakfast and then spent the morning working on my college work. I'm over it already, but still have work to do. Later, after lunch, I got ready and went to work. It was crazy busy, but passed quickly. The store was very messy at the end of the shift and I didn't leave until after 10. I've got a few days off next week. I arranged with my manager not to be given any extra shifts until later in the week, as I need the time to do my college work and move LB back home.

When I got home, we watched main stage live at Glasto, The 1975, not OH's bag, but I enjoyed it and then we watched some of the other highlights. We love it, but always end up staying up way too late.

On Saturday, I got up early to go to the free session at the gym. I was tired, but I needed to get another workout in this week. I'm doing more weights and a lot less cardio at the moment and finding my weight is much more stable and I'm not overeating so much.  I think eating a bit more protein helps, when I make the effort. I also think that the stress that cardio puts on my body, especially the running, may have been causing more cortisol in my body, causing me to eat more and hang onto weight more as a consequence. I'm going to continue in the same vein and see what happens. I'm in a learning curve at the moment with macros and weight training. It's interesting.

OH came with me to the gym and when we got back we went to the allotment to harvest some of the gooseberries and blackcurrants. Needless to say I got scratched to bits. I took the day off all college work and did other things instead. I needed the mental break and knowing that I had the whole of Sunday to finish my work helped a lot. After lunch, I needed to get to work again. It wasn't quite as busy today, but was still very tiring. Almost every week, I find out that someone else is leaving, today I found out one person had already left and another was leaving the following day. I was glad to get home, knowing I had a few days before I needed to go back.  It felt so good to fall into bed at the end of another busy week.

A Small Charity Shop Haul

I paid a visit to one of my favourite local charity shops this last week after not visiting for probably a couple of months. The shop itself is an RSPCA shop, so I'm always happy to give my money to a charity for animals that have been cruelly treated.

I found a few small things on this visit, the first being this book about craft for £2.50:

This is the second book on the subject of crafts that I've bought this month, but I love to read about makers and making things. It helps to inspire me to be creative and get sewing, although I don't have much spare time to do any at the moment. I'm so looking forward to getting all my college work completed and submitted, so that I can indulge in my favourite past time once again.

On the subject of crafts, I also bought these three balls of cotton yarn for £1 each. I haven't a specific project in mind at the moment, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

The next item I bought was this pack of three pretty card envelope folders for £3.

These will make a pretty storage solution for paperwork, so I look forward to using them.

Finally, I succumbed to buying these two lovely tin vintage brooches from Japan. I have many bird brooches, so the kingfisher appealled to add to this collection, but the moth was also lovely so I bought that too. They cost £2 each. 

In total, I spent £12.50 this visit, which I think was good for the items I bought. I think after being so busy this month on college work and working, I just needed a bit of an outlet for the stress, and charity shopping seemed to hit the spot this month. There are worse things I could do, as the song goes.

Ditto, But Some Positives Too - W/E 20th June 2025

Another week, another shift on Sunday. I was working 12 till 6 this week, which was a bit longer than normal. OH was away on a cycling holiday with some friends. He departed on Friday morning, and I'd been home alone since then. I didn't mind it though and I was working most of the time, doing college work or at college, so I was very busy.

When I got home on Sunday night, I finally had a few hours to do some college work. I spent about 3 hours doing some prep for my practical assessments, which was tiring after work, but I couldn't waste the opportunity.

On Monday morning, I woke up feeling a bit groggy. I'd slept well, but had gone to bed way too late. I couldn't lie in, as I had to do some food shopping. I went locally this week and just bagged the absolute essentials to get me through to Wednesday, when I could do a top up shop in time for OH coming home in the evening.

I then just had enough time to get lunch, pack up a something for supper on my break, and head into work to do a 1pm till 10pm shift. This was the last shift for a couple of days, and it went okay, more so because a certain member of staff wasn't working and I had a good chat to a colleague, which was very illuminating.

When I got home, I was shattered. I did some financial stuff, as I had some bills to pay, did a bit of blogging and then went to bed. I probably should have done some more college work, but just didn't have the band width after a long intense shift.

Tuesday, was my usual day to go to a gym class, but I decided not to go to the class this week and instead, booked myself into the gym, as this meant that I could go in early, get my session done and get home. I also decided to skip my sewing class, as I had my first practical assessment on Wednesday and needed the day to prepare.  I had to message my tutor a few times with some last minute questions, but I think I'm as prepared as I can be in the circumstances. I just hope it goes okay.

I had a shower in the evening so I could get up early and not need much time to get ready. I aimed to get to college early and do a bit more prep before the assessment. 

I was super tired when I woke at 6 ish the next morning. I had to drag myself out of bed. I didn't quite get to college as early as I'd hoped, but managed a little bit of  revision/prep before our tutor arrived. To be honest, I don't know if much went in, as I was so nervous. 

My actual assessment was a formative one, before a final assessment next week. As such, it was like a practice run, but still had to be done correctly. You could repeat parts of it, if the tutor felt it necessary, which I did need to do, as on a couple of occasions my mind went totally blank, but I got through it okay and so did the person I was partnered up with. I got some really good feedback from my tutor too, which gave me a bit more confidence going forward.

I felt so relieved once it was done. I was glad I'd persevered with it and it felt worth the effort. I needed to stop off on the way home and do a top up shop at Aldi and Home Bargains nearby. It felt like a luxury to be able to do such things, as I haven't had the time to do any but essential food shopping lately, and then always with a time limit hanging over me.

When I got home, I had some time to just chill, for what felt like the first time in ages. I ended up going back to bed for a few hours, as the last week has been really intense and I just needed to catch up on some sleep and reset. Besides it was really hot and the heat made me feel sleepy too.

By the time I woke up, OH was almost back in the country. I had arranged to pick him up from a local train station. I just had time to drop into the allotment, as I'd not managed to go whilst he was away and everything desperately needed watering. It thought it would look worse than it did, which was lucky. We did have a downpour on Friday night, so I think that helped. There's lots of stuff growing well and some berries to harvest, which I didn't have time to do on this occasion.

I came home, watered the garden and then had half an hour to chill, blog, watch YouTube, etc., before going to pick up OH. It was good to hear all about his trip. He'd had a really good time, despite the cycling being hard going.

On Thursday, I woke early. I've been sleeping well lately, but waking quite early. I got up and had some breakfast. OH and I headed out to the allotment after breakfast to harvest, feed, weed and water the plot. It was looking good. 

After lunch I got a call from work, asking if I'd go in a couple of hours early. I ended up going in for 3.30pm instead of 5pm, but we left by 9.30pm, which was good. It was pretty busy.

Friday morning, I booked into the gym for 10am. I walked there and had a pretty good workout. I've changed my routine around quite a bit, which I'll explain in another post at some point. It's working out well for me and I look forward to my gym sessions rather than them feeling like a chore.

On the way home from the gym, I dropped into a local charity shop that I haven't visited for a couple of months. I bought a few small things and did go over my £25 monthly thrifting budget, but I haven't spent much money this month as I've been so busy, so I don't feel too bad about it. I'll post separately about what I bought.

I was due at work for 4pm, so after having some lunch and chilling for a while, I got showered and ready for work. Work was busy, but OK. I was glad to get home though, knowing that I had Saturday off to go to see LB's degree Show at her Uni.

On Saturday, we drove over to Wimbledon in South West London, to see LB's work in her degree show. We got there at about 1.30pm and met her at a nearby pub for lunch and a catch up, which was nice. We then walked down the road to her University campus where we wandered through the degree shows of the various courses on the campus. There were film, costume design, technical arts and theatre design course work on display, so it was really interesting to see the students' work. Some of it was amazing. They were so talented. I have to say that being a sewist, I particularly enjoyed the costume design work, which was done to an amazing standard.

It was lovely to see LB's work too, of course. She's worked really hard for the last couple of years and we're very pround of her for completing her course and doing so well. We hung around until 5pm, when the show finished and the students could take their work home with them. We ended up bringing LB's model home with us, so that she didn't have to carry it home herself. We then took her back to her flat and chatted for a while with her and her flatmate. They will be both moving out at the end of this month. It felt like the end of an era. They've both enjoyed living in the flat though, so it's been mostly a good experience for them.

We then headed home and brought some of LB's stuff back with us. We will be returning in a week to collect the rest of it in a van.  Both OH and I were really tired when we got home and were both in bed quite early, which marked the end to another busy week.