November Already and an Inexpensive Day Out - W/E 7th November 2026

It's hard to believe that it's November already. This year is whizzing past in a flash. I woke up early for me on Monday, probably due to having such a restful Sunday. I headed out to do the weekly shop at least an hour earlier than I have been of late.

The shopping went okay. I bought a few things towards Xmas i.e. Advent calendars for all of us and some mint sauce for the lamb we'll be having. I got a bit frustrated, because for the second week running, I wasn't able to buy the Aldi baked beans we use now and there were no large bottles of water to be had in either Lidl or Aldi. I blame the Government for all the stocking up warnings.  I'm convinced that they know something that they are not telling us, either that or they are trying to get us to spend more money in the shops. Anyway, lots of people are listening and doing as they suggest, hence the empty shelves for some items. I used a £3 voucher I'd accrued on Lidl Plus, but had no other vouchers. I did, however, buy quite a few yellow stickered items today (that I was buying anyway), which saved me some money.

I did visit the charity shop this week, just for a browse and bought one pair of trousers for £3 and several books at 50p each. I also purchased a new unused sewing pattern for a cocoon dress, which appears to be very simple to make. If I do attempt it, I may make a toile first to make sure it will fit okay.

Tuesday, was pretty uneventful. I went to Zumba in the morning, which was good. I had a pretty quiet afternoon and ended up going to bed for a nap, as I felt really tired due to not having slept well the night before. When I woke up, I took the dog out for a walk and then watched an episode of Traitors, Ireland on Iplayer.

On Wednesday, it was my day to go to the Green Gym. I took two buses and a tube to get there using my free travel card and managed to get there on time, despite some road works. I'll be continuing to do the same from now on. When I got there, they were doing a soap making workshop from 12 noon, so I did some weeding and tidying up of the beds before joining in with the workshop. 

To do the workshop, they lit the firepit to melt the soap mixture. While we were waiting for it to melt, we added other ingredients to our silicone molds, i.e. lavender, marigold leaves, orange slices, poppy seeds, etc. along with fragrance and colourings and then later poured the liquid soap into the molds and waited for them to harden, which didn't take long.

It was a really fun session and it made me think about making my own soap going forward, both for myself and maybe as gifts, as it's such a simple process with the melt and pour soap. I think I could make 10 bars for less than £20 (£5 of that cost is postage) making it reasonably good value. I'm still thinking about it though. I may wait and see how I like the soap I made when I use it, before investing in more of the soap base. The one we used was a shea butter mix, but I have seen a more natural one on a website that I might use if I ever do attempt this. Here's a picture of one of the soaps I made:

As well as melting the soap on the firepit, we also made smores using marshmallows and biscuits, so it was a really fun session and I learnt a new skill, which is useful.

When I got home, I needed to take the dog out. He went back to his own home later in the evening, when our neighbours got back from their travels. I watched more of Traitors, Ireland tonight and then OH and I started watching a new series called The Leftovers, which had good reviews. It is a little strange, but does kind of draw you in out of curiosity, so we're going to carry on watching it for the moment.

Thursday, it was back to the gym for Aerobics, which I enjoyed. Once again, I was tired when I got home and ended up napping for a while and finished reading my current book. In the evening, OH and I continued to watch Celebrity Race Across the World and The Leftovers and then once OH had gone to bed, I started watching a series called Youth, which is okay. 

It's not been a particularly eventful week this week. I've not been feeling very motivated to do much. Sometimes, it's nice to have a quiet week without too many distractions. OH did order a new washing machine today, as ours seemed to have gone kapput. It's big expense, but we have had our current machine for nearly 15 years, which in these days of built in obselesence, isn't too bad.

Friday, was a much more interesting day, as I took myself out for the day, to visit a National Trust property. It was quite a long (but free) journey on public transport to get there, so I had to set off quite early. I had an interesting and enjoyable day out though, which cost me nothing on account of my new National Trust membership. I've made a separate post about where I went. 

On the way back, I stopped off at our local mall to pick up a few bits of food we needed for the weekend and I also bought a few Xmas presents that I knew OH and LB wanted whilst I was there. It was crazy busy there, so I didn't linger any longer than I needed to. 

When I got home, I did a bit of online shopping, as LB has now provided me with her Xmas list. It is always a joint Xmas/Birthday list, as her birthday is in January, so there are still a few things from it that I need to get, including some things that will involve a visit to IKEA. At least I've made a start, as I'm hoping to get everything bought by the end of this month.

On Saturday, I was back at the over 50's free gym session. It was a super misty morning when I set off, making it feel very atmospheric. The gym session was good, and I came straight home.

When I got home the new washing machine had arrived and OH had already plumbed it in. He then headed out to a Hyrox event. It's his new favourite sport. Whilst he was out, I decided to go through my pantry and cupboards to re-organise and check all the use by dates. I pulled out quite a few things that were near or over their best before date and now just need eating or using, so hopefully we'll work our way through these in the next week or so. It was a job that needed doing and it was satisfying to know exactly what we have in the cupboard and what I might need to add to it to keep us well stocked up.

In the evening, we watched another episode of The Leftovers and then I finished a series that I'd been watching called Youth, which was good. 

It's now officially the lead in to Xmas. I do like this time of year. We've got tickets to a performance of Handel's Messiah booked in December, which is being perfomed in a church in the City of London. I'm excited about this as it's one of my favourite pieces of classical music and it always makes me feel festive. Not a lot else on the calendar as yet, but I'm sure there'll be lots more stuff to add before the year is out.

I hope you've had a good week.

Monthly Makes - October 2026

I started this month with another alteration. I put the above shirt on one day last month and immediately knew that I needed to alter it or it would never get worn again. It's a cotton/linen mix, a nice natural fabric, but I didn't like the length of it or the longer sleeves, so I cut both down to a length that worked for me. Here's the outcome:

On the same day, I started work on making the fabric from the Seasalt dress that I deconstructed last month into a skirt. I pinned on the pattern pieces and then later cut them out. I then just needed to get started on constructing a simple A-line skirt. It's a skirt I've made many times and I do like it, but this time around, I am making it about 6 inches longer, so a maxi length, just for a change. I also cut out patch pocket pieces, that were not part of the original pattern, to add a bit of interest. 

Another day, I got to work sewing the pattern pieces together. I overlocked all the edges of the pieces to give a better finish and sewed this item on my hand crank machine, which worked well. I still need to attach a waistband, so there won't be a reveal until next month, but I'm happy with progress so far.

I did another very similar alteration to a another cotton M&S shirt I bought at a car boot in Brighton last month. Like with the first alteration above, I made the sleeves shorter, as I didn't like the elasticated 3/4 sleeves. I didn't take a before picture, but here's an after picture:

I also started to make a tote bag this month from a denim cargo skirt that I bought for £1 whilst thrifting with LB. Again, I didn't take a before photo, of the skirt, but I'll post a picture of the bag when I've finished it.

I also hemmed one side of a pair of trousers that had come undone. They were summer trousers, but at least they'll be ready to wear when I get them again out next spring.

Finally this month, I made a wardrobe bag out of the child's duvet cover that I bought in the charity shop recently. It didn't turn out too badly and is now housing one of my wool jumpers to hopefully keep any moths off it. I still need to make a couple more of these for a few other woollen items in my wardrobe. It will be a great way to use up more of my fabric stash.

Clothing Purchases - October 2026

Yes, this really is a clothing purchase post, despite my intention to drastically reduce expenditure on clothes this month. However, it's not as long as my last post in September.

I bought a couple of items of clothing from my favourite charity shop whilst out on my weekly shop at the beginning of October, which wasn't a good start. One item was this chunky, slouchy, navy sweater that I will look forward to wearing in cold weather. I do have lots of chunky jumpers, but they are mostly black, so navy was a different option. It cost £4.

I also bought a pair of black denim shorts from the brand Hell Bunny, which is quite expensive to buy from, as they are a retro style brand. Most of their shorts cost £45-£50, so the pair I bought was a steal at £2. I already have a pair of jeans from this brand and the shorts are a similar type of fastening. Hopefully, I'll get some wear out of them next summer or possibly in January, if we have a winter sun break.

The next lapse came when we went to Brighton for the weekend. As usual, LB and I did a bit of charity shop thrifting, but I didn't find any clothing. I did, however, buy these viscose hareem pants on a market stall for £12. I really liked the fabric print and colour, (i.e. brown with a navy paisley print). They are very lightweight, so definitely a summer item, but I do like a hareem pant, as they are just so comfortable. They are one size fits all up to a size 20 and they fit okay. Only slight negative, is that they don't have pockets.

I then made a few clothing purchases at the car boot in Brighton. I bought this cotton chambray shirt for £1, which was new with tags attached. Definitely a bargain and a good transition piece.

I also bought this black 100% cotton dress for £1, it's a size smaller than I usually wear, but looks okay on. It will be a good casual, everyday dress for wearing in the summer months. I may keep it in the wardrobe for the winter, as it will also be good for transitional periods combined with a long sleeved T-shirt underneath or sweater over the top.

The final item I bought at the car boot was this navy 100% cotton M&S blouse that I paid £3.50 for, which was more than I would usually pay at a car boot, but it does look unworn. I have already cut down the sleeves of this blouse though, as the elasticated 3/4 length of these felt very uncomfortable.

I then made a purchase of a knit vest when thrifting with LB this month. It was a bit bobbly, but for £1, it will get some wear. I de-bobbled it when I got home, but it's still not great. I also bought a denim cargo skirt for £1, but I'm making this into a tote bag, so I'll post separately about how this goes, as there's still a bit of work to do on it.

Finally, I bought one more sports vest at the charity shop for £2 and this pair of pin striped barrel leg jeans for £3. I'm not 100% sure about the jeans, but I'll give them a go. If I decide that I don't like them, LB is going to use them for the fabric in some craft projects, so they won't go to waste.

I did manage to avoid buying anything else for the remainder of the month, mainly by staying away from the charity shop. Not such a low buy month though, as I spent £30.50 in total, which makes it a definite fail, but I will try to do better going forward. At least now the weather has finally turned colder, I can start to wear things from my winter wardrobe and hopefully curb the urge to buy more.

More Rain, Canine Visitors and A New Sporting Hobby - W/E 1st November 2026

It was a rainy start to the week.  OH wanted to get the greenhouse fully constructed, so he finished putting it together on Monday morning.  I slept really well on Sunday night, catching up on the sleep I'd lost the night before, so I felt much better. 

I headed out to do the weekly shop on my own this week, which is fine. I got lucky before doing the shopping, as I received a voucher from Lidl offering me £7 off my next £70 shop, so I used this voucher on this shop.  I avoided the charity shop, as I didn't need to engage in any unnecessary spending and just bought what we needed in order to keep within budget in the last week of the month.

It was a miserable day out and very busy in the shops. I don't know if it was because it was half term, or due to people shopping early in order to take part in the boycott of the supermarkets that had been organised for Wednesday of this week, to protest at the current cost of living. Either way, I was glad to get it done today and get home and chill.

On Tuesday, I went to Zumba as normal in the morning, which was good. There weren't many of us though, which is  pity. In the afternoon, I did some financial housekeeping for the end of the month, a bit early, but it's unlikely I'll spend anymore this month. In doing so, I realised that I'd been paid a second small lump sum from a pension, which indicates that the pension payments should be coming through next month, which was good news. I'll just wait and see if I'm taxed on it and if I am, I'll need to contact the Tax office for them to sort out the tax codes. They did say that any tax paid should be paid back to me the following month, so that is good if it happens.

Wednesday, was the first dry day we'd had for a while. I decided not to go to the Green Gym this week, as I had a lot of work to do in our garden emptying the old greenhouse and getting the new one up and running. It took most of the day, along with some pruning and tidying. I posted separately about this with some photos of the new greenhouse now in use. 

We also had a dog come to stay for the day, as OH's friend and his family hadn't been able to do what they'd planned on Sunday and went today instead. He spent most of the day outside with me and I walked him later. He was no trouble.

After Aerobics on Thursday morning, I decided to do some sewing. I wanted to make progress on the skirt that I am making using some fabric cut from a Seasalt dress that was too big and that didn't suit me. I got my overlocker out for the first time in probably a year or so and overlocked the edges of all the pieces of the skirt to give a better finish. I then put the zip in, did the darts, attached pockets and then sewed all the pieces together. It fitted perfectly. I now just need to recut the waistband, as I made it a little small, iron on some interfacing, overlock the edges and then attach it to the skirt.  This will probably take another afternoon to finish, but I was very happy with my progress today. It's the first time I've done any dressmaking since I did some sewing classes 18 months ago. I used my hand crank machine for the stitching on this project and it worked well. 

From today, we have our neighbour's dog staying with us for a week. He's a lovely boy and is also no trouble. OH tends to do the morning walks and I do the afternoon ones which are shorter. It's nice to have canine company again.

I got notified today of the date of my ultrasound, to potentially diagnose what I think is an inguinal hernia that has been troubling me lately. It's in 3 weeks time, which isn't too bad. I'm hoping it will give me a diagnosis, although I'm not sure if I'll be offered any treatment anytime soon.

On Friday morning, I got up and out early to attend an over 50's Walking Cricket session at a Leisure centre across the borough. The minute I walked in, someone came over to introduce themselves and chat to me, so it felt very friendly and supportive. After a warm up, the first half of the session was training in bowling (overarm), it was harder than it looked. Needless to say, I need to do a lot of work on my technique. My abs were also sore later, so I can only think that this is what caused it. Who knew?

The second half of the session we engaged in a game. The rules and scoring were new to me and the scoring particularly sounded quite complex, but we all just got on and played a game where everyone got to both bat, bowl and field. It was really good fun and there were another 4 ladies there, which was reassuring. I really enjoyed the session and then some of us went for a drink in the cafe afterwards. I will be going back, but I've planned something else for next Friday, so I'll be back the week after. I'm really glad that I went though.

Saturday, began cold and misty here. OH was out cycling and LB was at work early, as she was working at a market today, so I was on dog walking duty. I needed to wrap up well for the first time this season. We had a good walk and then chilled at home most of the afternoon. 

Later, OH was taking the dog out, so we all went up to our local high street to get a few bits of food for supper and we stopped off for a drink at a local restaurant, which was nice. I dropped into our local charity shop on the way home, but didn't see anything I liked.

On Sunday, I was really tired. I had a long lie in before getting up. OH was on dog walking duty, then heading out to a cycling event and LB was working another market today. So our doggy visitor and I were home alone. I decided to spend the afternoon watching the new Sense and Sensibility movie on TV, which was good. 

Later, I drove the dog to the park where LB was working at a food market and we visited her at her stall before taking a long walk around the park until she was packed up and ready to go home. It was a quiet day, but I wasn't feeling great, very tired mainly. I'm not sure if I'm coming down with something.

Hope you've had a good week.

Financial Roundup - October 2026

October has been a very eventful month financially, in comparison to a normal month. This is mainly because I turned 60, finally received two small pension lump sums and small monthly pension payments are now just around the corner. (Hopefully, from November onwards) This means that I will no longer be using savings to live on, on a month to month basis and I will also have a little more income than I've had for the past year.

I'm looking forward to this new phase of life and it does mean that there will be a little more money available for the odd day out, exhibition ticket, theatre trip, sewing course, etc. As a consequence, I've decided to create another sinking fund that I pay into each month for just this kind of occasion and to pay for new glasses or dental treatment. I'll still be putting money aside each month towards birthday/Xmas gifts to ensure that I have the money I need at the time I need it, but a separate fund will be useful to draw from, just to enjoy my life and the time I have available to me a little more.

It's been a very frugal year in many respects and I've had to keep tight control of my finances. It's not been that difficult, but there have been things I've wanted to do, that I just really didn't have the money for, so I'm hoping that this fund and having my free travel card, will make it easier to do those things and will also stop me frittering away income every month on unimportant or unnecessary things.

I'm not really looking to increase my savings too much going forward, but I will be depositing a little bit here and there where I can afford it, just to give me a bit more security for the future. I doubt that this will be much, as there isn't really much scope for it these days, but I may rearrange some of my existing savings to facilitate more income going forward. The reason for this being that my bank has reduced the interest on my ISA savings by 1%, which does make a bit of a difference. As a consequence, I will probably be transferring some of my savings elsewhere, where I can possibly get a better return. 

At some point in the future, I will also need to think about starting to spend my savings, as the whole point of accruing them was to help support me in retirement. However, going from saving to spending feels like a difficult thing to do, so I'm not sure when I'll feel completely ready to do this.

With regard to the monthly budget, October has been a slightly more expensive month than normal, for a few reasons. My allotment fees were due costing £35, I paid £36 for my new travel card and spent probably over £20 on postage and Post Office services to send off some documentation for my pension, which is nearly £100 of extra expenditure. In spite of this, I've managed to keep within my means this month. I've spent a bit on gifts for Xmas, but this has come out of my Xmas sinking fund and there's only a couple of areas where I've gone slightly over budget this month.

Going into November, I'm not entirely sure what my income will be. This will depend on whether both pensions start to be paid to me and how much I am taxed on them. If they do both get paid, I should have a little more income, if not, I may have a little less. However, there aren't any large expenses on the horizon. 

I will be focussing any spending in November on buying Xmas presents, to try to get them all bought by the end of the month if I can, before it gets busy in the shops.  I'm just waiting on lists from OH and LB, so I make sure to buy them exactly what they need or want. I've also got the odd inexpensive day out planned too, which I'll blog about when the time comes.

A Day in the Garden Putting the New Greenhouse into Use

This week, after all the rain had cleared and the weather took a turn for the better, I decided to spend a day in the garden, putting our new greenhouse into use. The greenhouse had been delivered a couple of weeks previous and OH and I had gradually got it all painted with preservative ready to construct. 

It cost around £500 to buy untreated, which wasn't cheap, but if we'd wanted to get it painted before delivery, it would have cost another £500, so we decided to paint it ourselves. OH just ordered some preserving paint in the same colour as our garden room and bit by bit over the last week or two, we gave all the parts a couple of coats of preservative.

OH then constructed it over a couple of days and it was ready to go. Here's the greenhouse empty and ready to be put into use:

We bought the new greenhouse to replace a small metal and plastic greenhouse that we've had for a good few years now. It's worked pretty well for us, but we wanted something a little bigger that would look a bit more grown up. We do have limited space in our garden, so in the end we went for this one which I think is 6ft x 4ft. It was as big as we could get into the space we have on our decking.

Here's a picture of the greenhouse that we had previously:

There's nothing particularly wrong with this one, but it was getting a bit full and does look a touch messy. It was a cheap solution at the time and has lasted well, but it's time for a change. I will see if anyone at the allotment wants me to take it there, as not everyone has much room at home to grow seedlings on. It would be good to keep it in use until it falls apart. I will probably just need to get a new cover for it as the current one has ripped in a couple of places, they're not expensive though.

I chose a dry morning and set about emptying the old greenhouse and putting the new one in it's place. It took 2 or 3 hours to do this. Once I'd emptied the greenhouse and moved it out of the way, I had to sweep the decking and fence and also prune back a bush to the side of it before we could put the new greenhouse in place.  OH had to do this, as it was just way too heavy for me to even push.

I made sure to brush everything off to get rid of snails, spiders (there were some big ones) and cobwebs, before placing everything in the new greenhouse. I did get rid of a few things, but not a great deal, as we do use most of what is in here. There are currently only two shelves which did mean that it was difficult to find a space for everything, but OH is going to build at least one more lower shelf into one side and may be some higher ones too to put the seedlings on. That will be a job for another day though.

Eventually, everything was put in and it now looks like this:

We really like it, it looks so much tidier. I will move more stuff around as and when we get more shelves, but for now one shelf has all the plants I need to overwinter on it and the other has seed trays and hand tools. Pots, bags of compost and other larger tools are all on the floor, but corralled into dustbins to keep them tidy and organised.

After finishing the greenhouse, I then tidied up the decking, sweeping behind plant pots, cutting back some plants in the border and also pruning back a couple of plants that had got a bit unwieldy. I was probably a bit brutal, but I'm pretty sure they'll grow back. I also planted out a plant I've been meaning to put in the border for a while, but couldn't actually get to it. OH also returned the bench and table to the decking area so it was back to normal.

Here's a picture of how the decking area looks now:

It is a little bare, but there is more to cut back later in the year or maybe next spring. It looks much tidier though. All that's left to do in this part of the garden is repot up the hanging basket which is just about over, but I will do this another day. 

The patio area of the garden is the next area that I need to tackle. I have some plants on the table that need putting in one of the borders and we need to try to brush the algae and moss from the bricks. We're also going to clean off and paint the dividing fence with the same preservative as the shed and greenhouse, as it's looking a bit worse for wear. This will be easier once everything has properly died back.

It was a good day's work and it looks completely different to how it's looked all summer, but at least half the garden is now winter ready. We now have several bags of garden waste to take to the tip, as we don't get a collection anymore, as you now have to pay for it. We can't actually take it at the moment, as there are some road works on the route which will take ages to negotiate, so we'll have to wait a few weeks to do that, but I'm happy with the day's progress.

A Rainy Week - W/E 25th October 2026

It seems lately, that the world has gone completely mad. Everywhere I look or listen, in the news and on social media, there are protests/riots, flooding, price rises, potential shortages, doom mongers, etc, etc. It's pretty overwhelming. I find myself just wanting to focus my attention on staying home and doing things that make me feel good, such as working on our garden or sewing. I try not pay too much attention to all the doom and gloom out there, and I don't usually like to talk about it here on my blog, as I like to keep things positive, but there's a balance to be had, between keeping abreast of what's going on in the world and just burying your head in the sand. 

Anyway, on Monday, LB came with me to do the weekly shop out of town. It was nice to have company. We did visit the charity shop this week, as LB wanted to go in and I don't need an excuse. I did buy a couple of things. I made sure to fill the car with petrol whilst out, as it is cheaper where I shop and who knows when or if it will become harder to get hold of, I don't want to get caught out. We don't use a lot of petrol in a week, so it lasts a while. It was actually quite a nice sunny day, but for the remainder of the week there was a lot of rain forecast.

Tuesday, I headed to the gym for Zumba, which was good. It was raining on and off all day, so I spent the afternoon in the house. I decided to do some sewing. I finished an alteration job on the hand crank machine, then cut out the fabric pieces for a skirt I'm making. I also completed a garment bag for the wardrobe and repaired the hem on a pair of trousers, so quite a productive afternoon.

In the evening, OH and I watched a movie called Nebraska, which was funny. It was about an old guy who is convinced he's won a million dollars and is fixated on travelling from his home in Montana to Nebraska to claim it. It's a funny film about family, purpose and getting old, but was very entertaining.

Wednesday, was my day for going to the Green Gym. Despite the rain, I decided to venture out, only to find via a voicemail once I'd got there, that the session was cancelled. Having spent money to catch the train, (as my new travel card doesn't cover travel on the train route) I was determined not to waste anymore money on the journey home, so as I had plenty of time, I decided to try to find my way home using my free travel pass. It was a bit confusing at first, but I soon found a pretty quick route involving two buses and a tube and was home in more or less the same amount of time as it took to take the train. In the end, this did me a favour, as I'll use this route in future and save myself the £4.60 fare each time I go. Have travel card, will use it. I also still managed to get 5000 steps in and get out of the house, so all was not lost and I also ended up with an afternoon to do as I pleased.

For the remainder of the afternoon, I decided to do a bit of re-organising of my Xmas gift drawer, which is slowly filling up and also sort out some of my fabric scraps, which were overflowing, on account of the alterations I've been doing lately. Small jobs that needed doing and felt very satisfying to get done.

Thursday, was probably the driest and sunniest day of the week. I attended a class at the gym in the morning and then after lunch I did a bit more painting of the greenhouse panels. I managed to get a second coat on a few more pieces, which brings us a little bit closer to being able to construct it. OH then finished work early and completed the painting on the remainder of the panels, so it is now ready to be constructed when he gets some time over the weekend.

I did a few other jobs that I've been meaning to do once I'd finished painting. First, was to make some more homemade air freshener and deodorant, as I was running out of both. I then put some more jam on the stove, as I'd managed to acquire a few jam jars that I could use. I'm using smaller jam jars these days and I don't actually have that many, so I save them as we empty them of their contents and when I've got enough to make a batch of jam, I clear the freezer of a bit more fruit. I am now struggling to find room for the made jars of jam though, as the pantry shelf is almost full, as is the fridge.

Friday, was a bit of a lost day, partly on account of having a long lie in and partly due to the fact that I didn't really do anything very productive. Not every day has to be productive though, as everyday life isn't like work. It should be enjoyable and restful sometimes. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 

It didn't help that it was raining for most of the day.  I did venture out to the postbox to post off some financial details regarding some shares I own, so they can pay me some potential dividends and then I went to the allotment, but there wasn't a lot going on there. It was a bit grim really, as it's been very wet.

We finished the evening watching Celebrity Traitors which does frustrate me a little, as it always seems to become more like a popularity contest, than a genuine attempt to find the traitors, more especially with the celebrity version.

On Saturday, I made a point of getting out of bed early and making my way to a new gym for a free gym session. It is the same free Over  50's session that I used to go to, but it is in a different venue. I caught the bus there, as it is a bit further away, probably a 35 minute walk and I needed to be there for 9.30am. It was a good session, although I did take it quite easy as it was my first time in the gym for probably a couple of months and I didn't want to pull anything.  It was nice to see a few familiar faces, including the instructor. I've completely lost my gym mojo lately, so I'm hoping it will help get me back into going. I'm going to try to go there regularly from now on.

I did a bit of top up shopping on the way back home and then treated myself to a sourdough turkey bacon sandwich for lunch, which was very tasty. LB returned home around lunchtime. She had stayed over at a friend's for a Murder Mystery night, which she'd enjoyed. Sounded like fun.

Saturday afternoon was chilled. It was stormy with high winds and super heavy rain, especially later in the evening, but most things withstood the onslaught. We watched the first episode of East of Eden on Netflix tonight, which was good. I do love John Steinbeck novels. I've read quite a lot of them.

On Sunday, I felt tired after not sleeping well. I had to be up early, as a friend of OH's was dropping off their dog at 8.30 am and OH was out cycling. We agreed to look after him for the day as their family were all going out to celebrate one of the kid's birthdays. I did a few jobs around the house before heading out with him for a walk. It was a lovely bright sunny morning after the storm, but the wind did pick up at times, so I had to keep away from the larger trees just in case.

I've been looking into joining Walking Cricket sessions in the sports hall of a Leisure Centre in another part of the borough. They're for over 50's, both men and women. I used to play a lot of cricket at primary school and really enjoyed it, so I thought it might be fun and a bit of a different way to keep fit. I may go along on Friday of next week. I also created a new Pay As You Go multisite gym membership, as my previous one had run out. Now I'm 60, it only cost £1.75 for the year. I did this mainly because it entitles me to free swimming in the borough and I can go to the open air Lido for less than £2. I'm not sure if/when I will brave it, but it's good to have the option for such a small fee.

On Sunday afternoon, OH started to construct the shed. Before he started, I managed to do some drastically needed pruning to the plants in one of the beds around the decking. I've just not been able to get to it, as there's usually so much stuff on the decking, but OH had moved it all off in order to give him room to construct the shed, so it was an opportunity not to be missed.

We both spent two or three hours putting the shed together. We didn't quite get it finished, as there's still the doors to hang, the roof to go on and the whole thing to be screwed down to the base, once it's properly squared up, but it's looking good so far. I peeled all the sticky plastic off the windows and cleaned them up while OH did the construction. They all came up well. I'm excited to get it into it's final position and get everything put into it. OH may need to build a couple more shelves or pieces of staging though at some point as there's currently only two shelves in it. I'll post again when it's finished and moved to it's proper position in the garden.