A National Open Gardens Scheme Visit

On Bank Holiday Monday, we decided to head out in the afternoon and visit a local garden that was opening for charity as part of the National Open Gardens Scheme. The garden in question was a small community garden and woodland in another part of the London borough where we live, but that we'd never visited before. I'd read about the garden in our local Open Gardens brochure and it looked interesting.

OH and I got on our bikes and cycled over to the garden. It probably took 15 minutes or so. We were really pleasantly surprised when we got there. The garden is wedged between housing and a local children's playground and you wouldn't necessarily know it was there.

It is a partly walled garden and much of it is divided up into tiny plots for local people to grow vegetables or flowers. It was really interesting to walk around and see the different plots and plants growing. Here are a few pictures:

The site also had a wildlife pond with yellow iris 

and a woodland area you could walk around with an interesting mix of trees and native plants.

In the woodland area, there was also an apiary where they had their own bee hives.

There was a jazz quartet playing on the day, which was very entertaining, a plant stall where I bought a

couple of plants and a community building where your could get a cup of tea/coffee (no cake for us, unfortunately, as they'd sold out). Their resident fox even came out for a special appearance.

He didn't seem at all timid and was wandering around amongst the visitors, until he got bored and went off to sleep.

It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours on a Bank Holiday Monday. It cost us each £5 to visit, plus the cost of the tea/coffee, which was very minimal, but it was worth it as it went to a great cause and gave us lots of gardening inspiration for the allotment and the garden at home. I'm always amazed to visit these sort of gardens in London, which you might otherwise not get to experience.

I'm hoping that we'll get to visit more local gardens participating in this scheme over the summer, as it's a nice way to spend an afternoon, and I'm inherently nosey about other people's gardens too!

Monthly Makes - April 2026

This month hasn't been a particularly productive one on the making front. It started well enough, with my making progress with a scrappy quilt for the shed. I got the quilt top done over Easter weekend, along with making lots more fabric yarn for another rug.

We then went away for a few days to Yorkshire and when we got back, I progressed to sandwiching the quilt and started to machine quilt a few rows, but I ran into some difficulties, due mainly to the thickness of the quilt and gave up after a few rows. I haven't picked it up since. Here's a picture of where I'm at with it currently:

(Spot the rainbow from the crystal I have hanging in the window)

There is no hurry for this quilt. I'd like to get it completed by the autumn, so that it can be used when the weather gets cooler, but if I don't, it's not a problem.

Throughout the first couple of weeks of the month, I did steadily progress with my Kingsize hexi quilt. I'm still filling in the edges, but am slowly getting there. It was a bigger job than I thought. I would like to finish this project by the end of this year too, as I've been working on it for several years now. I'm not sure what I'm going to use as backing fabric. I may have to buy a flat sheet in a plain colour, either navy or dark green, as there's so many prints and colours on the top, that I think it needs something simple on the back.

I did also work on some denim cushion covers for our garden chairs in the first part of the month. I got the tops finished and cut some denim for the backs and then bought some zips, but it was the day after I'd bought these that I had my back injury and was in so much discomfort that I couldn't easily sit for long enough to sew and besides, the discomfort made it very difficult to focus, so I didn't do any sewing at all for well over a week.

Eventually the pain subsided and I was able to sit and tack the zips in place, but due to needing to do some cleaning for a visitor (who didn't come) it was once again left. I did, however, manage to machine stitch the zips in place and then stitch around both covers on 1st May. Not strictly within the month, but close enough.

I was pretty happy with how they turned out. I kept the design using different denims very simple, so that I'd have a realistic chance of finishing them. Here's a picture of one of them on one of our garden chairs:

The only other project I've worked on this month was to start making another ironing board cover for a second ironing board I have. I began making it with large denim hexis, but then decided that the fabric was too thick for an ironing board cover, so I'm now making it into a cushion cover for my chair at the kitchen table. I've finished the top now, just need a zip and then to sew it all together. Here's a picture:

Moving into May, I haven't really got any big plans for making anything special. I will probably complete the denim hexi cushion cover, keep working on the hexi quilt and shed quilt and I will probably start to make the additional ironing board cover. I'm pretty sure that other new projects might surface too, but we'll have to wait and see.

I hope you've had a productive month if you're a maker.

A Spring Clean, A Gallery Visit and Getting Back to the Gym - W/E 3rd May 2026

This week started a little differently, as I didn't need to go and do the weekly shop, having done it on Friday. I had a short lie in, just to finish the book I was reading, so that I could donate it. I wouldn't have time to read for the next couple of days, so I made the most of it.

First job of the week, was to get out my summer clothing. I've been struggling to find things to wear whilst we've been having some lovely hot weather here in London and decided it was time. I always love a good wardrobe changeover. It makes me feel like I've got lots of new options. I've left a few sweater vests out, just in case it gets cool again, but all the big sweaters and boots have been packed away. I managed to donate a few items that were looking a bit scruffy, weren't comfortable to wear or I just no longer wanted to keep. There was a pile still to try on, as I didn't know if they'd still fit. If not, they will go back into storage until I lose a bit of weight.

I also did a bit of banking, as I was due some interest payments on a couple of accounts, one sum was particularly disappointing, so I'll be moving the money out of that account very soon and putting it where it can earn more.

I then set about doing some spring cleaning in the living rooms. I didn't do a proper clean of these rooms when I did some spring cleaning a few weeks ago, so it was time to do a more thorough job and change up the rooms. We tend to move into the front room in the spring/summer months and then move back into the smaller, cosier back room with the wood burner in the autumn/winter. I had to get OH and LB to help move the furniture, as I didn't want to hurt my back again. It felt good to get this job done.

I interrupted the cleaning work to go to the tip with OH after lunch. There was lots of garden debris to take away. We seem to keep finding more stuff to dispose of, it's never ending. It feels good to clear the garden a little though, ready for the warmer weather.

On Tuesday, I was booked in for Zumba, I made sure that I took it very easy, no jumping, twisting, flinging my arms around, so I didn't do any more damage to my back. It was strange going back after an injury, it makes you realise how fast the class is, when you have to tone it down. I couldn't keep up with some routines, that I would normally just throw myself into. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks I'll be back to my normal level of exertion.

When I got home, I started to do more cleaning. We were supposed to be having a visitor this week, so I needed to clean the sewing room for them to sleep in, but we got a call to say they weren't coming. It did mean that I could take my time and wasn't up against a deadline. The sewing room needed a deep clean anyway, so I took everything out from under the bed, went through all the boxes where I keep vintage bed linens and reorganised them. The boxes were very dusty, so they all got cleaned, I vacuumed under the bed, cleaned all the skirting boards and then put everything back. I did take out a few things to donate, but not many.

On Wednesday, I didn't need to go anywhere, so I had a short lie in before getting up and showered. I tried on the summer clothes that I wasn't sure would still fit. Quite a few of them did, so they got put in the wardrobe, the rest will be stored away for now. 

I then changed the duvet for a summer weight one and put on some clean bed linen, before doing a bit more spring cleaning. I mopped and vacuumed down the stairs, the hallway and the vestibule downstairs. It's amazing how much dust and debris acrue, although we did do a tip run this week, which probably accounts for some of it.

I needed to run an errand in the afternoon. I had to take a library book back. I've had it for 6 weeks now and still haven't read more than the introduction, so I'm going to take it back, as it's not going to get read. I got a message, just before heading out, that a repeat prescription I'd ordered was ready, so I combined this errand with the library visit. It was really windy out and our trees in pots kept getting blown over in the garden, which was annoying.

Thursday, I was back at the gym for Aerobics. Once again, I took it quite slowly. When I got back I had some lunch and did a few household chores. I then did a bit of financial housekeeping as it was the end of the month. April went much more quickly than I expected, that's all I can say. I seemed to get through OK financially.

Later, I decided to make some banana muffins with some ripe bananas I bought the other week and froze. I had to pop out to the shops to get some eggs, and bumped into a couple of neighbours whilst out and had a chat.  Whilst the muffins were in the oven, I tided the baking drawer, which had got a bit unwieldy.

OH decided to cycle up to Yorkshire this weekend, so on Friday morning, he set off at 6am. I had a lie in and read a chapter of a book I'm trying to finish, before getting up and showered. Lately, I've been collecting shower water in a trug, to use for plant watering. Just the water that runs whilst I'm soaping myself up, so it's clear of soap and shampoo. We've been using it to water plants in the garden, as there is nothing left in the water butts and we've had no rain for ages. 

I'm now on watering duty, at home and at the allotment, whilst OH is away. I used some of today's water to fill the wormery bucket that we use to make comfrey juice. It was cracked, but OH mended it before he went away, so it just needed filling with water and the comfrey leaves I collected the other day putting in.

In the afternoon, I decided to do a bit of sewing on my machine. I needed to finish the cushions for our garden chairs. I was very happy with how they turned out. I'll post more in my monthly makes post. They didn't strictly get finished in April, but what's an extra day between friends.

I decided that the denim hexies I was going to make another ironing board cover with, are probably too thick for this purpose, so I decided to square what I'd already made off and make a cushion cover with them for my chair at the kitchen table. I spend a lot of time sat on it and it isn't the most comfortable. The cover I previously made from scraps will be retired. Once I'd made it to the size needed, I could take the papers out and I now just need to buy another zip. I'm going to use some prettier cotton fabric from my stash for the ironing board cover instead, but that will be a project for next month potentially.

In the evening, LB went out to meet a friend, so I had a stroll over to the allotment and watered the plot before making supper. OH messaged to say he'd safely got to his brothers house, which was good.  I had a quiet evening, making hexies for my kingsized quilt.

On Saturday morning, next door's dog came to stay. He was good company with OH away and LB working. Mid morning, we went out for a very long walk, before it got too hot. I did about 12,000 steps, which equates to almost 5 miles. Needless to say, I was tired when we got back. It was nice to get out into nature around where we live though.

I spent the afternoon pottering, doing small jobs. I put a wash on, then hung it out, made some more natural roll-on deodorant, as I'd run out and tidied away some fairy lights left out since Xmas. Small jobs I'd been avoiding for no good reason. Then I curled up on the sofa with the dog and a cup of tea and watched two hours of David Attenborough's Secret Gardens, which was really good. OH caught the train back to London tonight and was back home by 7pm, which was nice.

Sunday, started off in a chilled fashion with a lie in reading. I chose some fabrics and started the new ironing board cover today. In the afternoon, we all got on our bikes and cycled over to the Olympic Park for lunch and then we all took a look around the new V&A East Gallery/Museum, which is dedicated to East London Makers. It had some very interesting exhibits. It's only been open 3 weeks or so and is free to visit, which is great. 

When we got home, we headed out to the allotment to water and plant out a few more lettuce plants, then came home and OH struck up the BBQ for the first time this year, which was a nice way to end the evening.

It's been a fairly busy week, with one thing and another and passed really quickly.

Financial Roundup - April 2026

This month has been another slightly spendy one, despite having good intentions to not buy anything that wasn't essential this month. I did visit a few charity shops, a car boot sale, a market and a yard sale trail, and picked up quite a few items in the process, but I tried to stick to very practical and useful items.

I did okay in terms of the budget though, mainly because OH paid for one week's worth of groceries, when we did a shop together just before Easter. In addition, my being in bed for three days with a bad back, meant that he also paid for a few essential top up food bits to tide us over, until I was well enough to go and do a proper grocery shop.

When I did go grocery shopping, I did buy extra shelf stable items each shop this month, mainly because of all the scare mongering online about future food shortages and price rises due to the situation in Iran. I basicallly just refilled our pantry with lots of tinned and dried foods, to keep us going and insulate us against possible future price rises. In spite of this, I came in just under budget in most of my budgetary categories this month, which was a positive.

April, was also the month in which I received a few annual interest payments on a couple of savings accounts and this meant an extra £200 or so in income. I added this to the new car fund, which I haven't been able to add to since I left my job and which now stands at £2000, (which is just enough to buy a decent bike these days). Progress is very slow with this fund, as I just don't have the income to add to it, but I will where I can.

Once again, I didn't visit an exhibition this month, as the one that LB and I want to visit at the V&A costs £28 each for tickets and neither of us had the spare cash to go this month, maybe we'll go next month.

Other than the above, it's been quite an uneventful month in terms of finances. I've just been keeping myself busy with relatively inexpensive hobbies, tasks at home and in the garden.

Looking ahead to May, it is OH's birthday this month, but I do have some money saved to cover the cost of this, so it won't need to come out of my monthly budget. I'm not sure what I will be buying him yet though.

May is also the first month, since leaving my job last August, that I need to start to use savings as income. I'm paying myself £250 per month and have a particular savings account that I will be taking this money from each month, until some pensions start to be paid to me towards the end of the year. It means I will have slightly less income each month, but I will just have to adjust my spending accordingly. 

The majority of this income pays for my gym membership, life insurance, charity subscriptions and putting money aside for different sinking funds for birthdays, Xmas and a wedding gift later this year. Once these things are taken into account, I have about £60 left for anything else I might want to spend it on, so things are tight, but I've got used to it now and I am managing okay. 

I'm very lucky that I have most things I need and don't really need to spend any money, but there is always something that catches my eye or needs replacing. At the moment, I'd really like to get another new bath mat from IKEA and a stainless steel oven tray. Mine keep rusting up, but I don't think stainless steel will. I may pay a visit this month. The trays are not expensive at around £6. I also need some new cotton face flannels at some point, but again, these aren't too expensive.

I hope you had a good month financially.

A Sunday Yard Sale Trail

On Sunday, I ventured out to a local Yard Sale Trail, that was being held to raise funds for a local primary school. LB had told me about it and sent me a link. She was out with friends, so couldn't come along, but I decided to go anyway. I was mainly looking for plants for the back garden and a couple of cucumber plants for the allotment, but as you might guess, I bought quite a few other things, but they were all very useful and practical and will get used.

It was a lovely sunny day, which made it perfect for walking around all of the stalls. At the first stall I came to, they were selling these three 10ml bottles of essential oils from Neals Yard. They were £5 for the three, which was a good price, as they are a good quality brand and they will always come in useful for homemade household and beauty products.

The bottles weren't full, probably half to two thirds full, but two of them were organic and cost at least £20 each and the third, non-organic costs £12, so I consider this a win.

Next, I bought three handmade natural soap bars, made by the householder themselves, for £5. I bought one of each scent: lavender and rosemary, tea tree and eucalyptus and mandarin and lime. I use bar soaps in the shower, so these I will happily use and I'm looking to change to using natural soaps in the near future after reading about some of the nasty chemicals that are used in shop bought soaps, so I was very happy with these. They also beautifully wrapped them in paper and string, which was very thoughtful.

I bought this sweet little fabric patch for 50p, which I will attach to something.

My next purchase wasn't strictly needed, but I thought it looked beautiful and very interesting. It was this Around the World in 50 Trees 1000 piece jigsaw. It includes a poster too, which tells you about all the different trees.. I look forward to actually doing this at some point, hopefully all the pieces are there. I paid £1.50 for this.

I bought OH two cucumber plants from a stall raising funds for the church, for £1.80 each. He'd been wanting to find some for the allotment.

I bought a couple of other items for the garden. One was this set of 4 recyclable seed trays for 20p each. These always come in useful when you have an allotment.

The second item was this tin of garden odds & sods, which cost 50p. I couldn't leave it behind for this price. It contains quite a few useful little bits for the garden. I will probably use the strings for wrapping gifts and the snips are perfect for sewing. The wire and plant labels we can use in the garden and the tin is a good size for keeping seeds in or I may just recycle it.

My last couple of purchases included this bar of Czeck dark chocolate for OH for £1, two word search books for 50p each and a seahorse mosaic kit for 50p.

I also bought a gift for LB, who loves Miffy, namely this Miffy tote from the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam with tags still attached. This cost £4 and will be a small stocking filler for Xmas.

I picked up a couple of freebies on route. The oasis were given to me by a stallholder whose neighbour was going to throw them out. These might be useful for Xmas floral displays.  In addition, on the way home, I cut a couple of bags of comfrey leaves from the hedgerows to use to make plant fertiliser. My favourite patch had been completely cut down, but luckily, I still managed to find some growing elsewhere. Who doesn't love free fertiliser these days?

In all, I think I did okay and had a lovely couple of hours mooching around helping to raise money for the local community.

A Week Recovering, Tending Plants and a Yard Sale Trail - W/E 26th April 2026

This week started super slowly. I spent most of Monday in bed, still recovering from the back problem. It is definitely getting better slowly. I did get up to tidy the bedroom and go downstairs a few times, to eat, sit in the garden, do the odd household chore and refill my hot water bottle. 

In the afternoon, I was feeling reasonably pain free, so I took the opportunity to get a shower and change into normal clothing. I felt a lot better for it. Only problem was, that whilst in the shower I felt something ping in my left shoulder and then that became painful. I think I may have been lying on it more to compensate for the right sided back pain when in bed or something, but I could really do without pain from another part of my body. I'm sure it will resolve itself.

I cancelled my Zumba class on Tuesday, as there was obviously no way that I would be recovered enough to start jumping around. I couldn't go out to do the shopping either, so OH made a few trips to the shops to pick up essential bits.  We managed. 

I've only been able to tolerate watching an hour or so of TV in the evening, before feeling uncomfortable, so I have been joining OH for this each evening.

Tuesday, was pretty much the same, although the pain was receding a little. I woke up at 5am, as OH got ready to go out cycling and didn't get back to sleep, so it felt like a long day. I got a bit sick of being in bed by the afternoon, as scrolling social media was depressing me, so I got up and dressed and went out to the allotment. I took a few photos and sat on the bench for a few minutes, before going to a local shop and then walking around the block home. It felt good to get out, although I felt quite vulnerable for some reason. I find that these kind of injuries do knock your confidence, as you realise that you are not invincible.

After supper, I watched some TV with OH again, before getting another early night. I've not been to bed so early in a very long time. I've been very lucky that I've slept well, despite everything. I do get discomfort in the mornings, on getting out of bed to go to the toilet. I think my body gets a nasty shock after resting all night.

On Wednesday, I was feeling better still. Late morning, I got up and ready, put some laundry away, changed the towels in the bathroom and put a wash on. I then had lunch, before heading out to do some grocery shopping. We didn't have much fresh food left in the fridge and the small shops around us, although convenient are quite expensive, so I decided to grab my trolley and get on a bus to our local Lidl. It was the first time I felt well enough to put on some makeup and head out and the first day I wasn't popping pain medication all day. I did cancel my class at the gym for the following day. I'm not taking any chances of causing the injury to recur. I'll go back next week now and take it very slowly.

The grocery shop went okay. It was surprising how much I could fit in the trolley bag and a tote bag.   On the way home, I bumped into my neighbour, (who is actually a chiropractor, not an osteopath) who had helped me on Saturday. I told her how grateful I was for her help and how much better I was feeling. We're very lucky to have such a neighbour.

When I got home, I unpacked the shopping and made some supper. OH was going out to the pub with a friend and LB was working, so I was home alone, which was quite nice. I mended a pair of socks, did a bit of blogging, had a glass of wine and watched TV. A chill evening really. For the first time in days, I could visualise getting back to normal. It was a relief. It's good, every now and then, to get a reminder of how lucky you are and be grateful for your good health. This was certainly one for me.

Thursday, I was virtually back to normal. A bit of soreness, but nothing too debilitating. As a consequence, I decided to give my houseplants some love. I began by watering them and then decided to pot on a few of them, that were looking a bit potbound. I also potted on one of the big plants we have in our living room, in order to properly secure the new plant support I'd got from the car boot sale. Here's a picture of it after re-potting:

As you can see, it's getting very big. I still need to top up the compost, but at £6.50 per small bag locally, I only bought one bag. I will try to get more at a better price when I next go shopping. 

We had our neighbour's dog for the day on Thursday. OH took him for a run in the morning and tired him out, so he sat happily watching me tend my plants for most of the day. I then took him out in the afternoon. It was a lovely sunny day, with lots of people out in the park.

It was spoiled by seeing a dead young fox on the canal path. It looked like it had eaten some yoghurt, which I suspect was poisoned, as it still had it around it's mouth. It is illegal and very dangerous to do this kind of thing. It upsets me.  They can be a bit of nuisance, but not sufficiently so to end their lives like this. Humans can be very unkind and incredibly stupid, risking the lives of pets and other wildlife with toxic substances. Needless to say, when I got home, I reported this to my local council in the hope that they would remove it.

On Friday, I did another big grocery shop, this time out of town and for next week. We have a visitor coming mid week and I knew that I would need to clean the house before they arrived, so I wanted to do the shopping early and have Monday free to clean. It was the first time I had driven since I hurt my back, so it was good to get back in the car and be able to drive again. 

I had a 10% off voucher to use at Lidl, so saved myself around £10 with other discounts on certain items. I added a few stock up items to the trolley, to continue to add to the pantry, in case of price rises. I also bought some more houseplant compost and a summery pair of trousers from the charity shop for £3.

Saturday, was spent at home having a quiet, but slowly productive day. I potted on another big plant from the living room, this time a Monstera, which looked much better with it's new plant support. 

I then did some work on the outdoor chair cushions, basting the zips in place. I now just need to machine stitch them and sew the cushion covers together around the edges. It felt good to get back to doing some sewing again after more than a week of not being able to focus on it, due to discomfort.

I also started a new small patchwork sewing project. I had a spare ironing board kicking around the kitchen gathering dust and cobwebs. I think I picked it up at a car boot sale for £5, It is a good make though, namely Beldray. I think it's vintage, but is good quality, they cost between £35 and £55 new now, so I didn't want to get rid of it. I cleaned it up and I'm making a new cover for it using some denim scraps, similar to the one I made last month. I started working on it and it's coming along nicely. I'll probably then store it in the shed for now, so if my current one corrodes, as they often do when you use steam irons, I'll have another one. Alternatively, LB could always take it if she moves out again, although her generation aren't known for doing much ironing these days.

Later, OH and I went to the allotment to water and weed. OH planted out some lettuce and watered, whilst I cleared as many weeds as I could from the plot. It's looking good, with everything growing well. It wasn't lost on me how amazing it was to be able to kneel and bend over to weed, when at the same time last week, I couldn't stand up straight or even sit in a chair.

In the evening, we watched a new crime series called Criminal Record on Apple TV, which is good. It's set in East London, where we live, so it's interesting to see where it was filmed.

I had a slow start to the day on Sunday, reading in bed before getting up and ready. I then went out to a Yard Sale Trail locally, which I've posted about separately. When I got back, OH had cleared the lightwell at the front of the house, that had become overgrown with ivy. He'd been meaning to do it for a while now.  It was a bigger job than he expected, but it looked a lot better afterwards.

The rest of the day was spent pottering, tidying up the back garden and thinning out clutter in the kitchen in readiness to clean during the week. I've just about got back to normal towards the end of the week, save that I didn't go to the gym on Sunday, but I actually enjoyed the break, if I'm honest.

I hope you've had a good week.

A Week of Getting Back to Normal, a Trip to a Market and an Unexpected Health Issue - W/E 19th April 2026

I was looking forward to getting back into my normal routine this week. I like going away, as it's good to step out of your normal routine, but it's also nice to fall back into it. 

On Monday morning, I was looking forward to returning to shopping out of town. I know it could be argued to be a waste of petrol, but it is the one day each week that I use the car. The shops that I go to are much bigger and easier to negotiate, and I can always get everything I need in one visit, which suits me perfectly. I also like the change of scenery of travelling to a different part of Greater London. I've visited this area to shop on and off for over 25 years now and never really tire of it. There's always some new shop opening or bargains to find.

Today's shop was pretty straightforward. I did go to my favourite charity shop whilst there and I did buy a few things, which was probably a bit naughty, but I seem to be keeping within budget this month. (Photographs to follow in the Monthly Clothing Purchase post).

Anyway, I didn't have any vouchers to use this week for the first time in a while, so I spent over £100 on groceries and household items, which is a little more than I expected, but not an unusually high amount. We are now pretty well stocked though, so even if prices do go up in the near future, we might not feel it straight away.

Tuesday, was a pretty normal day, Zumba in the morning, a bit of work on a couple of sewing projects, a nap and a bit of reading in the afternoon before supper. OH and I started watching Slow Horses with Gary Oldman on Apple TV tonight. It was good and we watched 3 episodes in one evening.  There are 5 series to watch, so it should keep us entertained for a while.

On Wednesday, I woke up to a pretty grey day. I didn't need to go anywhere, so I decided to have a day at home working on some sewing projects. I started with cutting and sewing the cushion cover tops for the outdoor cushions. I decided to keep them pretty simple in terms of design and will be using some of the denim fabric that I bought from a charity shop last month for the backs. I just needed to buy some zips and then I could sew them together.

I then decided to do some work on a quilt that I'm making for the shed using lots of scraps. I finished the quilt top over Easter and then sandwiched it using some fabric from my stash and a quilt I previously made, but don't use as the fabrics don't match our current decor. At least this way it will get used and the original quilt will always be there underneath.

I did, however, find it tricky to quilt the rows due to the thickness of the layers. I had to unpick one row twice, due to unsightly puckers and uneven stitching, at which point I gave up for the day. I'll go back to it and do a few rows at a time until it is done.

After supper, OH and I went over to the allotment so he could plant out some climbing beans. Everything that is already in is growing well. There's not much room left for tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, courgettes and kohl rabi that we still have to plant out. We'll make room though. I watered the plot, whilst OH did the transplanting. I need to do a bit of weeding on my next visit.

On Thursday, I was back at the gym for Aerobics as usual. In the afternoon, I decided to tackle the ironing basket, which had filled up. I wanted to do it before the weather got hot and ironing became unbearable. I then watched a bit of TV for the rest of the afternoon.

We watched another couple of episodes of Spook series SlowHorses in the evening, which is very good.

Friday, I was able to have a lie in and read a chapter of each of my two current books. I then got up and showered and ready to go out for the afternoon. I decided to take myself off on the bus to a local high street outside of our borough, that has a proper old fashioned street market and lots of fabric shops. I used to go a lot and have bought a lot of fabric there in the past, but fabric wasn't my reason for going on this occasion and thankfully, I didn't buy any, as I have more than enough already.

What I went for were some zips for my outdoor cushion covers and I managed to get a couple for £1 each. I could only get black ones, as the stall I went to didn't have them in navy, but they'll be fine. 

I wandered up and down the market for an hour or two, checking out the stalls and a few shops on the high street. I stuck to buying just things that we needed, nothing exciting; bin liners, cleaning wipes, bun cases, incense sticks and a few food bits that we had run out of. It made a change going somewhere different to shop, but I didn't spend a lot of money. 

I made the mistake of getting on the wrong bus going home and it took me a very long way around, due to the route and a diversion on it. I was on the bus for more than an hour, which was a bit annoying as an alternative bus would have taken 30 minutes, so I was glad when I finally got home.

Later, I decided to make some homemade popcorn. I hadn't made any since LB was probably at school and we had a jar that had been in the cupboard for years and needed using. I cooked some up and put some salt and vinegar on them. It was so tasty. In spite of probably being well out of date, they tasted fine. I made each of us a bag to eat whilst watching TV later in the evening.

I then went down a rabbit hole on Pinterest seeking out different flavours to put on popcorn. I think I'm going to start making it regularly, as a low calorie snack and try out lots of different flavourings.

It was a very slow start to the weekend on Saturday. I'd had a bad back for a couple of days, which was a bit debilitating. It rarely happens, but something happened this week and it made moving around a bit difficult. Anyway, I stayed in bed reading a chapter of each book again (this takes at least an hour) and then eventually got up, shuffled around getting ready and had a late breakfast. I had a few bills to pay online, so I did this over breakfast and then did a couple of household chores. 

We were having OH's friend's dog to stay for the afternoon. He arrived around 2pm.  A bit later, I was putting something in the dishwasher, when I must have twisted round and felt excruciating pain in my back. it was so bad it winded me and really took me offguard. I then found it difficult to move at all. Eventually the pain receded a bit and I could walk a little, but I still felt very panicked, as I couldn't even walk up the stairs without feeling a lot of pain. OH ended up messaging a neighbour who is an osteopath and she kindly came around, asked me some questions, asked me to make some specific movements to assess what the problem was. She was actually amazing and really helped reassure me that it was probably a deep muscular issue on one side that should resolve itself over a few days. This also allowed me to focus on moving the other side of my body and I found I could actually move up and down the stairs, which helped to calm my fears.

The remainder of the weekend was mostly spent in bed or trying to move around and remain as pain free as possible and thankfully my movement is getting better slowly, but I think it may take a while before I'm properly up and about. Such is life, but it's horrible not to be able to move freely. I'll just have to take it one day at a time, take painkillers and use hot water bottles to control the discomfort. 

Not a great end to the week, but s__t happens, as they say, and it could have been a whole lot worse,