Home Again and Something New - W/E 20th September 2026 - Part One

Coming home to London was a bit of a downer after having a lovely holiday in Cornwall. It was, however, good to get home to my own bed and also to see how the garden and allotment had fared in our absence. We got home on Saturday afternoon and after putting all my washing on, OH and I headed to the allotment to check on everything there.  All was well and we harvested some tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, raspberries and a few strawberries. We didn't water, as rain was forecast the next day.

The garden had fared okay too. There must have been a bit of rain whilst we were away, as all the plants looked fine and some I'd left in trays were sat in water.

I didn't really unpack fully until Sunday morning, after I'd had a good night's sleep, as the journey back from Cornwall was long and tiring. After getting unpacked, I did some financial reckoning after the holiday. I did spend quite a bit on holiday, but nothing excessive. 

I then put a grocery shopping list together and headed off to our local Lidl to do the main part of the weekly shop, as there wasn't a great deal in the house to eat. I was able to use a £5 off voucher which helped. It was very busy in the store and once again, there was an incident where some people were arguing loudly. Hence why I don't normally shop here. It was, however, good to get the shopping done.

OH was out cycling most of the day and it rained on and off all day. It was a pity, because it was our local Jumble Trail (table top sale). I thought about going to take a look, but we'd done so much car booting and thrifting on holiday, that I couldn't really justify it and if I'm honest, the rain did put me off. Instead, I stayed home and did some blogging and more financial stuff. By the end of the day, it felt like life was back to normal, more or less.

It feels like we're now on the run in to Xmas. I've started buying a few small gifts here and there, but I don't have lists from LB and OH yet. There's just my 60th birthday on the calendar between then and now. I'm not planning on doing anything special for it though, maybe a family weekend away.

On Monday, I still headed out of town to do the remainder of the weekly shop. There were quite a few bits that I couldn't get locally and I like to get out of town at least once per week.  I was lucky to get a few things I was looking for on offer, which saved me a bit of money. I also filled the car up with petrol, as there wasn't much in the tank after our journey home. It's been going up again quite a bit lately. We noticed this on our travels. Where I shop it is always a lot cheaper than anywhere nearer home.

I did also drop into the charity shop and bought a couple of things, one of which I needed for something I was doing later in the week. I also got a couple of books for £1, one of which was The Salt Path by Raynor Winn, which is the story of the author and her husband walking the South West Coastal Path when they became homeless.  I went to see the film of the book, which I enjoyed and subsequently there was a lot of controversy over the book and it's author, but I still wanted to read it, as we are thinking of walking the path at some point and it will remind me of and prolong thoughts of our lovely holiday. I am now about half way through the book and it is a very enjoyable read.

Whilst out shopping, I also managed to return an item of clothing that I bought in Cornwall, that I decided was not for me, at a local branch of the store, which I was happy about.

Tuesday, I was back to the gym for my usual Zumba class. Unfortunately, when I got there, I found out that the class had been cancelled, which was annoying. I decided to do some walking on the treadmill and cycling on the exercise bike instead, before heading home. Any kind of movement is a plus at the moment.

When I got home, I decided to do a bit of pruning and tidying in the garden. I just clipped back my hazel bushes and tidied up the hanging basket and a few other plants. I also brushed the cobwebs off the garden chairs and table and swept the paved area of the garden. Small things, but they helped to make the garden look a bit tidier. There's still more to do, but it felt good to get out in the garden now that the weather is a bit cooler and just potter.

On Wednesday, I did something new. I went along to a Green Gym at a community garden a train ride away. I enjoyed the session, the people seemed very friendly and I made a drinking water station for a hedgehog or other wild animal. They had me sawing wood and using an electric drill to screw it together. I've never done either before really, so it was a learning curve. The water station works well and replenishes the water as it gets drunk, without it spilling over. Some sort of magic really, who knew. Anyway, here's a picture: 

Very simple and rustic and it could do with being painted, but I'm all for learning new skills. I came home with some rather large radish, that I'm hoping to pickle and some scotch bonnets for OH.

In the afternoon, I caught up on the final of the Sewing Bee on iPlayer, which was good, then later OH and I watched the first episode of the final series of Slow Horses. We missed out on tickets to watch it and the second episode live at the Barbican, as it was sold out. It would have been a good night out.

Talking of the Barbican, we've also missed out on tickets to go and see the Conservatory this month before they renovate it. I believe that they are giving away free cuttungs of some of the plants on the day. I've added myself to the waiting list in case any more tickets become available. OH is apparently also on the waiting list and believes there might be another opening later in the year, so fingers crossed.

Monthly Clothing Purchases - August 2026

A bit late, but here's last month's Monthly Clothing Purchases post.  After months of buying numerous items of clothing, I decided to try to reduce purchases this month, after all, I was trying to declutter by having a Car Boot sale, so it seemed pointless to keep bringing more into the house.

However, I failed at the first hurdle, after visiting a car boot sale with OH the first Sunday of the month. I came home with three clothing items. The first was this 100% linen navy tunic top, which I bought for £1. It's from Phase Eight, which is a quality brand. Trouble is, I didn't like the long lagen look length, so I have now shortened it to make it more wearable for me. The excess linen will always come in handy for patchwork or some other small sewing projects. I wore this to the cricket, and it was very comfortable on a hot day and looks quite smart too.

The second item I bought was this sweater with pouffy short sleeves for £1. I thought the sleeves were cute on this one. It's a little snug, but hopefully I will wear it when the weather gets colder, a good layering piece.

I also bought this pair of 100% cotton elasticated cuff trousers at the car boot, with nice big patch pockets. It was a bit of a gamble as to whether they would fit, but for £2, I thought it was worth the risk and happily it was. I've already worn them several times and they are very comfortable. I can see me wearing these a lot, as they are one of my favourite style of trousers at the moment.

A visit to the charity shop resulted in three more clothing items being bought.  The first was this jersey jumpsuit that cost £5. It's probably not everyone's bag, but I do like a jumpsuit, even if I just wear it around the house and garden. I've worn it once already and it is very comfortable to wear.

The next item I bought was this brand new with tags 100% linen shirt from M&S, which cost me £3. It's a very bright green colour, but I have some shoes this colour which I can wear it with, possibly layered under a sweater vest. A bargain, as it is a quality item.

The final item from this visit to the charity shop was a black shirred broiderie anglaise dress for £5, which I subsequently cut down to a skirt. I'm afraid I didn't take a picture of it as a dress, so here's the new skirt version which I've mentioned in another post.

On a second visit to my favourite London charity shop a couple of weeks later, I bought this cotton top, which I thought was really pretty for £3. I really like the paisley type print on it and the frilled neckline and sleeves.

I bought one more clothing item whilst we were away in Yorkshire, from a charity shop.  This top cost £4 and is made of cotton broiderie anglais. I liked the bright colour of it and the loose fit, although it is slightly itchy and I may need to wear a vest underneath it.

I did also buy a couple of fascinators with a view to wearing them for the wedding, but I didn't in the end, so I'll be re-donating them.  I probably paid £5 for the two, which was a bit of a waste of money really. I just came to the conclusion that they're just not my style.

In total then, in August, I spent £29 on second hand clothing/accessories, which was a little more than I spent last month, but less than previous months. I've been very happy with most of the items I bought though and some of them will be worn a lot.

Monthly Makes - August 2026

Rather than being a month of making, August, was a month of making alterations to items of clothing  that were in my wardrobe and that I wasn't quite happy with. The first item I altered was this 100% linen tunic top that I bought at the car boot for £1. Whilst I really liked the neckline, sleeves and looseness of it, it was just way too long and lagenlook for me, so I decided to cut some fabric off the bottom, re-hem it and make it shorter and more me. Here's a before:

(Please excuse the creases)

It didn't take long to just re-hem it and I have to say, I'm very happy with the result and I can now see me reaching for this a lot, as it is very comfortable to wear in hot weather. 

Here's an after picture:

The second item I altered, was one that I had altered previously. This top was originally a short dress. I think it is 100% cotton, although I can't read the label, but it feels like cotton lawn, which is great for summer. The problem was, that every time I reached for it, I just didn't like it on. I then had a bit of a lightbulb moment, that altering the sleeves might help. They were originally 3/4 length and elasticated and it's not my favourite length of sleeve, so I shoved the elastic up to the top of my arm to give an idea of how it would look with short sleeves and I much prefered it. 

It was a simple enough job to shorten and re-hem the sleeves. I didn't re-insert elastic, as the less tightness around any part of the body when it's hot the better. I'm very happy with the results. I can see me wearing this top a lot more now. Here's what it looks like now:

I liked it that much, that I decided to wear it for the rest of the day.

Another item that I altered involved hand sewing some new straps to a jumpsuit. It didn't change the look of the item at all, but just made it fit better, so I haven't posted a picture here. It was good to get this small job done though, as it meant that I could wear said jumpsuit, which I bought a month ago.

I also did a bit more work on my second Suffolk puff project, making a few more puffs. I'm pinning them to the lampshade as I make them. Here's where I'm at currently:

A long way to go, but I'm hoping that I've got enough fabric to complete it.

I did a couple more alterations this month. The first was to my favourite sweatshirt, that I've had for years, and which is really useful for taking on holiday for cool nights/days. It had a ring mark stain on the front and despite my efforts, I've not been able to shift it. I didn't want to throw it away as I like it, and I had some patches in my stash, so I ironed them on over the stain, so that I can continue to wear it. Here's a picture of what it now looks like:

A much better solution than recycling it for rags. I'm just hoping the patches stay on when it's washed and worn, otherwise it will be a bigger job to stitch them into place.

The final small alteration job I did this month was to cut a dress down to a skirt. I bought the dress from the charity shop for £5. I'm afraid I didn't take a before photo of it, but it had a sheered top with puff sleeves. The only problem was that it was way too low cut at the front and back for my liking, so I cut it down to a skirt. I've already worn this several times and it's very comfortable. It's made of cotton broiderie anglaise, but it did have a polyester lining, which I removed, as I don't want any synthetics against my skin in hot weather. Here's a picture of the resulting skirt:

Just small alteration projects for the main part this month. I didn't get around to making any trousers on account of the wedding and other distractions, but hopefully I'll get around to them another month. I was, however, happy with the results of the things I did alter, as it has made several things much more wearable.

A Cornish Staycation - W/E 13th September 2026 - Part 2

Thursday, on our holiday in Cornwall, was our penultimate day. We decided that we would go to Marazion to walk across the causeway to St Michael's Mount. We have visited Mont St Michel in Brittany, many years ago, which is quite different, as it has many shops and restaurants on the island, but St Michael's Mount has a castle and gardens. It is free to walk the causeway to the island, but to get onto the island and visit the gardens (which were closed) and the castle, it cost £21 each, if you don't book the night before, so we decided to just walk the causeway and enjoy the views. The tide was out from 9.45 am until around 1pm and this allows you to walk all the way to the island. We enjoyed this and then came back across the beach. 

From here, we then drove back to Penzance and this time LB and I got to enjoy a bit of thrift shopping in the town.

Later in the afternoon, OH and I visited Lamorna Gardens, which are situated overlooking Lamorna Cove. They are mainly planted up with tropical plants, hydrangeas, camelias and rhododendrons, which are planted in terraced beds dug into the cliff sides. It is an amazing garden, but quite steep in places and you do have to watch your footing.  There are lots of paths through the gardens and some lovely viewing points, from which you can see Lamorna cove, which is a lovely little rocky cove.

On Friday, our last day in Cornwall was spent in St Ives. OH went for another bike ride and LB and I met him there for the afternoon. Before heading off, I determined to take a swim in our little local rock pool. It would have been such a pity to go home without taking a dip, so at 8am, I ventured down and had a swim. There was one other person there and we got chatting. I was so glad that I did it. It was cold, and a bit slippery under foot, but very rejuvenating. Next time I come to Cornwall, I will definitely bring my beach shoes.

Our last day was another lovely sunny day and it was very busy in the town of St Ives when we got there.. (I had previously visited St Ives as a teenager, when I went on holiday there with a friend and her parents for a week and ended up with severely blistered legs from sunburn. We had to travel home by train and I remember finding it really difficult to sit on the train seat all the way home. I was a mess)  Thankfully, there was no repeat on this visit.

St Ives is a beautiful, Cornish town/resort, but is incredibly busy. It has  lovely sandy beaches and lots of beautiful shops and cafes. We wandered around the shopping streets and then stopped in a cafe for lunch. The harbour is beautiful at low tide and many people sat around this area on deck chairs.

We then walked up to the Tate St Ives, where we went up to the cafe for a Cornish Cream Tea, which was very nice and had great views of Porthmeor beach. We didn't go into the gallery, but we did sea a couple of beautiful artworks on the way up to the cafe. Of particular interest, was this beautiful glass piece by Patrick Heron, a famous Cornish abstract artist, whose daughter taught OH at university.

There followed a wander around some more streets in the town and a visit to a local bakery, where I bought a Hevva (Heavy) cake, a traditional cornish cake, which was traditionally baked by fishermen's wives to welcome them home from sea. It tastes very nice, similar to a Rock Cake, but denser. It is very nice with clotted cream and jam. By the time we got back to London, there was only one third of the cake left.

We had a fabulous holiday in Cornwall. We managed to pack quite a lot in, but it still felt like we'd only scratched the surface. The drive home seemed a little longer, probably because we didn't have our holiday to look forward to. I would definitely go again and would recommend it to anyone. There is so much to do and see and the scenery is breathtaking. We would also like to attempt more of the South West Coastal Path at some point. Who needs to get on a plane and fly when we have such beauty here at home.

A Fabulous Week in Cornwall - W/E 13th September 2026 - Part One

On Monday morning on our holiday in Cornwall, OH and I got up quite early and decided to go for a walk into Newlyn, which is the next village along the coast. It's quite an easy flat walk. The coastal path is eroded in places, so we were forced to walk on the footpath adjacent to the road for most of the route. This didn't detract though, as you get lovely views over the sea and we passed the odd place of interest including a memorial garden to victims of a shipwreck back in the 1980's, which paid tribute to both the seamen lost and the members of the Lifeboat crew that were attempting to save them. It was very touching and a strong reminder of the dangers of the sea.

We stopped off in Newlyn for a coffee, snack and toilet stop before venturing further up the coast to Penzance town. It was only about 3 and a half miles in total, but we enjoyed just getting out, getting some exercise and checking out the local area. There was plenty to see along the route, including the Newlyn Art Gallery, harbour and the Jubilee Pool, which is another sea water swimming pool, but on a much bigger scale. 

When we got to Penzance, we had a walk up the main high street, which has lots of lovely little independent shops and cafes, then later caught the local bus back to Mousehole, which runs every half hour and deposited us a hundred yards from the cottage.

It was a lovely sunny day, so when we got back LB joined us and we went down into Mousehole and sat on the beach for  a couple of hours. OH and LB went for a swim in the harbour, whilst I just had a paddle.

On Tuesday, we headed out to the Minack Theatre, which is an outdoor theatre built into the cliff in the 1930's by an amazing local lady called Rowena Cade, with the help of her gardener Billy Rawlings. It was an amazing place. Here's a few photos:

Here, we watched a talk by an actor, playing the role of Billy Rawlings, telling us about the work it took to build the theatre. We had amazing views over the sea and coast and the sun beat down on us.

It was well worth a visit and was definitely one of the highlights of our holiday.

From here, we went a few miles further down the coast to Lands End and then stopped for a while in Sennon Cove, which is another beautiful sandy beach. We walked along the beach and watched the surfers and stopped at a local cafe for lunch before later returning to Mousehole.

Wednesday, was another morning of Car Booting. OH went out for another bike ride, whilst LB and I visited the Rosudgeon Car Boot Sale which was situated on the other side of Penzance. This was a great car boot sale with lots of stalls. I bought a few plants here and a few items of clothing. The stalls were super varied and there were lots of interesting items for sale. 

We spent three hours at the boot sale before meeting OH in Helston a few miles away. Here, I visited the Museum of Cornish Life, which was full of artefacts, costumes and antique machinery and tools from hundreds of years of Cornish life. It was interesting to find out more about life in Cornwall over the centuries. I saw a toploading washing machine that was similar to one my mum used to use in my childhood, which brought back memories of washing day when I was a child.

I also saw a photograph depicting the fashions of the 1970's and I can remember wearing a party dress that was very similar to some of the dresses in this picture.

There were also lots of costumes on display, that were worn to the Floral Dance, which takes place every May in Helston. Only those who are born and bred in Helston are invited to take part in the dance. There were also items of clothing worn by both men and women in the tin mines, the remains of which can be seen all around the Cornish coast.

After stopping in a cafe in Helston for lunch, we then went on to Porthleven, which is another very pretty fishing village on the coast with a lovely harbour. Here the waters outside the harbour walls were quite rough and there were people out surfing again.

(Please excuse my fingers in the corner of this picture!)

We bought an ice cream here and after doing so, a seagull dove down and almost landed on my head in an attempt to steal it.  They weren't successful, thankfully. (Although I did see one steal a whole cone from a gentleman in St Ives later in the week. It vanished in seconds, so be warned)

This post concludes Part One of our Cornish getaway. More in Part Two

Getting Away to Cornwall - W/E 6th September 2026 - Part 2

The second half of the week was about getting ready to go on holiday to Mousehole, Cornwall. I had a chill day on Friday, getting packed in readiness. It was nice to be able to take my time and not be rushed. As we were driving down to Cornwall, we could just throw everything in the car - no airport checks or restrictions.

I managed to get all my packing done, water all the indoor plants and then went to the allotment and watered the plants there before we left. I had an early night, as we were getting up early on Saturday to set off on the 6 hour drive to Cornwall.

On Saturday, we set off at 7.30am, We were really lucky and had a really good journey down. We stopped off at a couple of service stations en route and the journey really didn't feel too long. We were also able to get into our accommodation early, which was good. It was a lovely cottage with a relaxed feel, sea views and a small private garden. It was quite a warm day, so we opened up all the windows and it was lovely to feel the sea breeze blowing in.

We spent a couple of hours chilling in the cottage unpacking and then we walked down to a local cafe and rock pool for a drink. Here's a photo of the beautiful rock pool in the village, taken a couple of days later when it was very quiet. 

It's a wonderful seawater swimming spot, just a few hundred yards from where we were staying.

We then walked down to the lovely little harbour in Mousehole, before returning to the cottage. There is no food shop in Mousehole, save for the deli, so we went out later to Penzance, to get some groceries for the first few days of our stay, before returning and relaxing on our first evening.

On Sunday morning, we got up early. OH was heading out on his bike and LB and I were heading off to the nearest car boot sale, which was a 40 minute drive away. Many of the car boot sales in Cornwall seem to be  held during the week, which is interesting, so this was the only one I could find that took place on a Sunday. It was in Frogpool, near Truro.

It was a nice car boot sale on a playing field in a rural location, and had quite a few stalls.  We had a leisurely wander round. I didn't buy a whole lot, but I did pick up 3 items of clothing for £2.50, which I'll post about in my monthly clothing purchase post. I also picked up a couple of preserve jars that need replacement seals, for 50p each, a succuluent plant for £2 and a couple of terracotta plant pots for the garden, which cost 50p each. I only spent about £7 in total. LB managed to find quite a few things that she wanted to buy, so we both had a good morning.

Later, we met up with OH and we all drove back to Mousehole, where we picked up some take away food from the deli in the evening and chilled back at the cottage watching TV.

Our holiday had got off to a great start, with lovely weather, staying in a very picturesque village on the Cornish coast. It felt like a million miles from London and was super relaxing.

Getting Back to Normal - W/E 6th September 2026 - Part One

This week started with a quiet Bank Holiday Monday at home. After a very busy and sociable weekend, I was more than happy to be back in London and just potter around at home and get back to normal.

When I got back home, I was happy to find that I'd received a pension quote from the second of the pensions I'm intending to take when I reach 60 this year. Hopefully, I'll be able to get both applications sent off in the next couple of weeks.

OH went out for a cycle ride on Bank Holiday Monday, whilst I stayed home and unpacked, did some laundry and settled back into life back in London. I spent some time looking up some holiday accommodation in Cornwall for our summer holiday and later OH booked it. I don't think the weather is going to be great all week, but after such a hot summer, I'm not too worried. There will be lots of places to visit and things to do, even on rainy days. We will be staying in Mousehole, in a lovely cottage for a week. I'm really looking forward to just having a break, relaxing and exploring somewhere different.

Later on Monday, OH and I visited the allotment to harvest and water.  After 4 or 5 days away, there was quite a lot of food to pick. 

On Tuesday morning, I was booked into Zumba at the gym. It felt good to get back to exercising. In the afternoon, I headed out of town to do the weekly shop. I stopped into the charity shop, but only came home with a book, which was a good thing really. The grocery shopping didn't take too long. I didn't have any vouchers this week though, but did pick one up from Sainsbury's to use next week and also gained enough Lidl points to get a £5 off voucher next time I shop there. Everything helps.

Later, after supper, I caught up on some financial reckoning for the month, as it hadn't got done due to our being out of town. It had been a good month really, as I'd received a pension pay out from a very small private pension that had matured, which I immediately transferred into an ISA. It was a bit disappointing that tax got taken off it, but I should get it back next year, as I haven't earned enough this year to pay any tax at all. I also had a small win on the Premium Bonds, which is always nice to receive.

On Wednesday, I had a day where I didn't need to go anywhere or do anything much. I did some laundry, pickled two large jars of beetroot, picked up a prescription from the pharmacy and just generally had a chill, pottering kind of day at home.

The ballot for Wimbledon 2027 opened today, so I tried to enter. I had to wait in a queue for 13 minutes, as the site was extremely busy. I did eventually get through and was able to enter into the ballot. We'll just have to see if we get offered any tickets, we haven't been for a few years now.

On Thursday, I was back at the gym for a class, which was good. In the afternoon, I did a bit of pottering in the garden, potting on a white mulberry bush that we bought at the weekend and some thyme that I also bought. I also sowed some white and blue borage and some marigold seeds, but I don't know how they will fare. 

I harvested as many hazelnuts as I could find on my two bushes in the garden this week, which was just as well, as on Friday the squirrel appeared, rustling around in the bushes looking for nuts. They probably found some at the back of the bushes that I couldn't get to. They tend to bury them in the garden and forget about them, as I have potted up quite a few seedlings this year and there are more in the borders. I also collected some cob nuts from a tree down the road earlier in the week and I'm hoping to sow them and grow a cob nut tree.

I also made a batch of jam on Thursday, as the weather was cooler. I made 5 jars, using blackcurrants and gooseberries, but most of the jars I used were quite small. It has made a bit of room in the freezer, which is much needed.

I spent the afternoon catching up on three episodes of the Sewing Bee, which I enjoyed. I also made arrangements to start doing some voluntary work later this month. I've been wanting to do it for a while and decided to just take the plunge. It's actually more of a Green Gym, but it involves working in a community garden one day a week. It's a train ride away, but it will be good to get out and about a bit more. I'm looking forward to it.

I'll make a separate post about the remainder of the week.