Another Heatwave - W/E 12th July 2026

After returning to London from Norwich on Monday evening, it was a case of unpacking the car, unpacking bags, opening windows, watering plants in the garden, doing laundry and just generally settling back into life in London. It felt good to be home. The first thing I did was to put on the air conditioner for an hour, such a luxury. There was very little food in the house, but I cobbled together something on toast for supper and was in bed by 10pm, shattered.

After a reasonable night's sleep, I woke up feeling more refreshed on Tuesday. I had a busy day ahead of me, with quite a few things to do. Firstly, I opened up the windows to get the morning air circulating and then first stop was the allotment, which hadn't been watered for 3 sunny days. I was a bit worried that it might be a bit worse for wear, especially the tomatoes, so I got up early and spent an hour harvesting and and watering. It was good to see that just about everything was okay, save a few trampled plants (the foxes, I think). My dahlias are now on the point of flowering, which is very exciting. I gathered a nice little food haul, so I'll have a little less to buy at the shops this week. Here's a picture of what I harvested:

I was booked into my usual Zumba class at 10am which was good. When I got back, I had some lunch, watched a bit of YouTube and then had a shower and got changed ready to go out and do some grocery shopping for the week. I decided to go local this week, as I'd done so much driving over the weekend that I didn't feel like driving out of town.

I didn't spend as much on the shopping this week, which was good. It was hot out and the roads were busy, so I was glad to get it done and come home and chill for the rest of the afternoon, watching the tennis.

On Wednesday, I had a bit of a lie in after not sleeping too well. I guess it's probably the heat. I dragged myself out of bed before 10am and headed straight to the allotment to water, before it got too hot. There were only a couple of tomatoes to harvest.

When I got home, I decided to harvest the blueberries from the bush in our garden. It is laden with berries. Here's a picture of the bowl I filled:

They've gone straight into the freezer for OH. He likes berries. I don't always reach for them, as I like citrus fruits and peaches/nectarines. There's still more to harvest, but I need to rotate the bush in it's pot to get to them, so that will get done another day.

Other than the allotment, which is just around the corner, I didn't need to go anywhere, always my favourite kind of day. I didn't need to put on any makeup and I could potter at home to my heart's content, especially when it's hot like it was this week and after I've been away for a few days. There were a couple of small  jobs I need to do around the house, but otherwise the day was mine to do as I saw fit.

After lunch, and having done the jobs, I decided to have a play with my new toy, the vintage hand crank sewing machine. What started as a play, turned into a 3 hour sewing session, but I'll tell you more about that in another post.

Thursday, I was booked into a class at the gym again which was good. In the afternoon, I watched the Ladies semi finals at Wimbledon with LB and spent another couple of hours using my new vintage sewing machine. 

I then had lots of chores to do in the evening when it got cooler, i.e. opening all the windows to cool the house down, watering the garden, watering the allotment, putting the rubbish out, harvesting more blueberries from the garden, making supper and doing the dishes, before settling down to pin the binding on the shed quilt whilst watching TV.

On Friday, I woke up after getting a reasonable amount of sleep for once. I had a bit of a lie in and then got a cool shower and got ready for the day. I didn't have any plans or anything much that I needed to do. It was way too hot for cleaning, but I did put some laundry on. Every day this week has just been about surviving the heat. I'm happy to do very little if it means staying cool.

Saturday, was still hot. LB was working all day. I got up and ready and changed the bedding before it got too hot. I needed to got to the allotment to water in the morning, but was a bit late setting out, so it was hotter than I'd like. I harvested a few things that needed picking, before watering everything. I'm getting a bit fed up of all the watering. I will be glad when OH gets back and can help with it.

Whilst out, I popped to a local shop to get a few bits we needed and some snacks and drinks for the football. When I got back, I needed to sit in front of the fan for an hour to cool down. I processed and weighed all the produce from the allotment, did a load of laundry and hung it out in the garden. I then spent most of the day watching Wimbledon finals on TV, whilst hand sewing. I'm not a great one for watching sport, but when I'm stuck in the house trying to stay cool, it seemed like the most obvious thing to do, especially with it being the final few days of Wimbledon and the later stages of the World Cup. I couldn't help getting caught up in all the excitement.

On Sunday, LB was working all day again, so I had the house to myself. I decided not to go to the gym. The heat put me off. Instead, I decided to finally get around to doing some cleaning. It wasn't the best weather to be cleaning, as I got quite hot. I began with the bathroom, which was long overdue. It took a couple of hours, but I did a good deep clean. I then cleaned, vacuumed and mopped my way down the stairs, hallway and vestibule. I also vacuumed and mopped the kitchen floor, hung some washing out and took it in again. It felt good to finally get at least some cleaning done. In between, I was keeping updated on the Men's singles final at Wimbledon.

Thankfully, it was a lot cooler in the evening. I didn't water the garden or allotment tonight. I figured they'd be okay until the morning. It's been a long hot week and I don't think we're in for any respite any time soon, looking at the forecast over the next couple of weeks. It's just as well that I'm starting to get used to it a bit more now.

Quilting Update - Going Analogue

I've titled this quilting update post 'Going Analogue', because this was the month that I bought and started using this old vintage Singer hand crank sewing machine. I bought it at a car boot sale near Norwich for £35, as I'd always liked the idea of getting a machine that you don't have to hook up to electricity. It makes it so versatile. Anyone for sewing in the garden or the shed? Maybe not during a heatwave, but when it's a bit cooler definitely.

It's not versatile in relation to the stitches it does, as it just does a simple running stitch, but to not have to be wired to the grid to use it, now that is a real analogue experience. In addition, I probably learnt to sew on a similar machine belonging to my mum and owning one myself was a lovely nostalgic proposition.

Anyway, one hot afternoon after getting it back to London, I decided to just have a play with it, get it threaded with some black cotton and just basically get to know it a bit better. Once I'd figured out how to thread it up and insert the bobbin, I couldn't resist trying it out and Oh boy, I was not disappointed.

My aim was to try to use it to complete the quilt I was making for the shed. I've been struggling with this on my electric machine, mainly because of the thickness of the quilt, which is made from a single duvet. The electric machine, I found, made it difficult to keep my stitching straight and without snags and puckers. I spent half my time unpicking and re-sewing each quilting row and it was very dispiriting.

I figured with a hand crank machine, I might have more control of both speed and accuracy and this proved to be true. I set to stitching one of the quilting rows with this machine and there was hardly a pucker. (Well, maybe the odd very small one) Better still, I did definitely feel that I had much more control over speed and the neatness of the row and moreover, the process was just so much fun. I ended up sewing almost 5 rows out of the 7 I had left to finish, but then I ran out of bobbin thread and needed to unthread the machine to use the reel on it, to top up the bobbin. I hadn't yet figured out how to fill the bobbin using the machine, so I decided to end the session there and do it another day.

The following day, I decided to carry on and managed to complete the quilting of the rows. I also then managed to pin some binding in place and now it just needs the binding stitching on, which I'll probably do by hand, as and when I feel like it. It's not the ideal weather to be working on a thickish quilt, but it feels super satisfying to make progress with it.

Here's a picture of the finished quilting on the shed quilt:

It's not perfect, but it's for the shed and doesn't need to be and the fact that I've recovered a quilt that I was no longer using and am putting it back into use feels resourceful. I'll post another picture when the binding has been stitched on.

My verdict on the hand crank machine is a positive one. I love using it and it has added another option to my sewing endeavours. I now can't wait to use it on much more simple projects that don't involve sewing through thick layers of fabric. For a machine that is over 100 years old, it was definitely worth the £35 I paid for it and it came with 5 bobbins and a couple of spare needles too, so that should keep me sewing with it for a good while.

A Weekend in Norwich - July 2026

This last weekend, OH was heading off on a cycling trip to the Alps for 10 days, so LB and I decided it might be nice to have a girly weekend in Norwich. It's somewhere that I'd wanted to visit for a while. LB had visited before and had enjoyed spending time there. I also follow a couple of people on YouTube who live in or frequent the city and it always looked like an interesting place to visit.

We booked a small inexpensive apartment for a couple of nights and headed off after LB finished her matinee shift at the theatre on Saturday afternoon. It took a couple of hours to drive the 100 or so miles to get there and we arrived just after 8pm. Unfortunately, we just missed the local fish and chip shop, which was already closed, so we had a picky tea with what we'd brought with us, as we were too tired by the journey to head out into town. Instead, we unpacked and had a chill evening watching TV.

We were up early on Sunday morning, as I had planned for us to visit Arminghall Car Boot Sale, which is a 10 minute drive south of Norwich. It was the biggest local car boot sale and it was a good choice. It was free for buyers and there were lots and lots of stalls with lots of interesting things for sale. The weather wasn't too hot either, which made it more pleasurable.

We wandered around the stalls and I picked up a couple of small things, but then I came across this lovely hand powered Singer sewing machine which a lady was selling for £35. I kept on looking, but I couldn't get the machine out of my mind, as I've wanted a hand powered machine for a while. The idea of being able to sew without electricity i.e. in the garden or the shed, just kind of appeals, so I went back and bought it. I decided that I'd rather spend most of my money on one quality item that I wanted, than lots of small things I was less bothered about. I'm looking forward to trying it out at home.

I did buy a few small things as well. As the car boot went on, several stalls started selling everything off for 50p, so I picked up various bits and pieces. Here's a couple of photos:

Most things were 50p, but a couple cost £1. LB bought a few things too, so we both came away happy.

Our next stop was at the charity Emmaus in Ditchingham, another 20 minutes drive away. It was an interesting place with lots of homewares and furniture, some clothing, electricals and bric a brac. I came away with just a gym vest for £2.50 and then we had some lunch in the cafe which was nice. It also had lovely gardens to walk through and there was live music playing. I wanted to take some photos of the buildings, as they were very interesting, but I accidentally left my phone in the car in the car park. We enjoyed our visit though.

We then decided to make a day out of it and to drive down to Southwold on the Suffolk coast. This was about another 30 to 40 minutes drive. We've visited this resort a few times when LB was little, but she didn't really remember it. It's very non-commercial and family orientated. We had a lovely afternoon, mooching the small shops on the high street, admiring the beautiful cottages in the town, walking along the seafront, sitting on the beach getting sand in our toes and then we picked up fish and chips and took them back to the apartment. We had another night in, after a long and tiring, but enjoyable day, watching Naomi Osaka playing tennis at Wimbledon on TV. We didn't stay up to watch the football, but I was happy when I woke up the next morning, to hear that England had won.

Monday, was our last day, and we were actually going to explore Norwich itself. We packed up and I drove into the town centre and parked the car. First stop, was a lovely little garden called The Plantation Garden, which was situated close to Norwich Cathedral. It was a fascinating garden full of lovely plants and features, created from an excavated chalk pit in the Victorian era and quite gothic in style. I loved it. It was £2 each to enter and was definitely worth a visit. Here's a few of pictures of it:

From here we wandered down some of the Norwich Lanes, checking out some interesting small shops and cafes, visited Norwich Market and wandered around the town. We had to leave after lunch, as LB was due back at the theatre where she works for a training session, but we had a good look around and I really liked Norwich. It has a very relaxed, creative and friendly vibe. I'm sure we'll be back.

A Cooler Week - W/E 4th July 2026

This week, I was so grateful for some cooler weather. I'm not a hot weather person at the best of times, but super hot temperatures strip me of all motivation, so I was grateful to be able to just do things again, be it sewing, walking, just going outside generally, etc.

Monday was still hot, but only 25 ish degrees, which was much more bearable. I was super happy to get out of town, after being couped up at home for the past week, although I wasn't so happy with regard to the amount of traffic, which I was adding to. 

I had a couple of vouchers to use this week, another £4.50 off a £30 shop at Sainsbury's and a £5 off voucher at Lidl that I'd accummulated using the loyalty points system they have now. Inspite of this, I did still go over budget a little and had to use some of next month's budget, but only £15.

I debated whether or not to visit the charity shop, but ended up going anyway, which cost me £10 (not from the grocery budget). I did, however buy a leopard print sundress/skirt and a pair of new Toms pumps, both of which I really like. I needed a decent pair of pumps, as they are essential in the summer months and the ones I had are getting very loose and scruffy and I tend to only wear them to the allotment these days. I'll post photos of the purchases in the monthly clothing purchase post.

In the evening, I did some financial reckoning for the month. It was quite a low spend month really, considering we went on holiday and I went out for a meal with friends, which involved buying a small birthday gift too.

On Tuesday, there was no Zumba class to go to. I'm not sure why, but it just wasn't on the timetable, so I couldn't book it, which was a bit disappointing. As a consequence, I decided to have a lie in. I've been waking very early lately with the heat and all and I just needed to catch up on sleep.

I didn't have any plans for the day, save that I wanted to do some sewing, as I had a skirt to create from a dress. I'd had to order some elastic online in order to complete the transformation and it had arrived, so I could get on with it. Other than that, I had nothing that I particularly wanted to do, other than maybe a visit to the allotment. 

The sewing session went okay and didn't take long.  The dress was altered to a skirt and I also had one other small repair to do on my machine which got done too, so two items of clothing were ready to return to the wardrobe, which feels very satisfying. Both were summery items, which means more choice in the hot weather we're having.

Later, I potted on my sunflowers into separate pots, for them to grow on before planting out and pottered a bit deadheading the hanging basket. The cooler weather meant that it was a pleasure to be outside, in comparison to the previous week when it was hellish. I also headed down to the allotment before supper and harvested as much produce as was ready. OH joined me a bit later. It then took an hour or so to process the harvest, but such is life when your grow your own food.

Wednesday, was another day in which I didn't have any particular plans. I had a bit of a lie in reading another small thin book, this time Voltaire's Candide, which is quite gruesome in a humourous kind of way. Once up and dressed, I decided to head out for a walk, which I hadn't done in a while.

I took a bag with me in order to look out for ripe blackberries en route and was surprised to almost fill it on my walk, from bushes in full sunshine. Here's a picture of my free foraged fruit haul:

These have now been washed, bagged up and put in the freezer, which is now chock full of homegrown and foraged fruit. These will be great for apple and blackberry crumbles and for combining with gooseberries to make jam. In total I picked 1.4kg, so I don't think I'll need to go foraging for any more this season.

On my way home through our local park, I passed a quite well known actor, who is one of my all time favourites. I love some of the work he's done on TV, as he's starred in quite a few historical drama series. Who knew that he lived locally, although I shouldn't be surprised living in London. 

I was super hot by the time I got home, despite it being a bit cooler this week, so I spent most of the afternoon chilling and cooling down. LB was working all day in the local pet shop and OH had gone out to a meeting, so I had the house to myself for the afternoon.

In the evening, I started a new scrappy project that I haven't tried before. I was inspired by a video on You Tube and I think I have all the fabrics I need for, it save a dark backing fabric, which I could easily use a sheet for, if I've got an old one kicking around. If not new or second hand flat or fitted sheets can be bought quite inexpensively.

I spent the evening going through my fabric scraps and using as many small pieces as I could for this project, which is always satisfying. I'll post about it on the Monthly Makes video at the end of this month.

Thursday, I was back at the gym, thank goodness, for Aerobics. I was annoyed to find out that Tuesday's class did go ahead at 10am, but wasn't put on the timetable until 9.45 am, which is useless to anyone. Apparently, there were only 4 participants. The incompetence irritates me and it's not only not fair on customers who are paying for a service, but it isn't fair on the teacher either.

Anyway, I was feeling tired after lunch, so had a nap and then late afternoon OH and I headed down to the allotment to water mainly. There were a few bits to harvest, but not much. The summer fruiting raspberries and blueberries are now all but finished. We should get more raspberries in the autumn as we have some autumn fruiting bushes too. A few of the tomatoes are now ripening and we're gettting a few cucumbers too, which is all good.

On Friday, OH and I were back at the allotment for a couple of hours late morning. He went to dig up the last two rows of potatoes and feed everything with homemade plant food, and I went because I needed to pick up a prescription from the chemist nearby. I then brought all the garden waste bins in, as they'd been emptied that morning by the council and then I went around the outside of the site snipping overgrowing branches from the grape vine and other plants that block the way of pedestrians on the footpaths. Someone needed to do it.

When we got back, I hung some laundry out on the washing line outside, then did a couple of small jobs in the garden before walking into our local town centre to visit Boots, as my usual mouthwash was on a good offer and I needed some Bongela gel for a mouth ulcer. It was a bit hot for walking around, but I tried to keep in the shade as much as I could. It got my daily steps up to 8,000+ which was good.

Saturday, I woke up to a broken fan. I have a small USB fan that I leave on overnight and when I got up it had stopped. I think it must have burnt itself out though overuse. It wasn't great timing with another heatwave on the way. I'm hoping I can find another one before the really hot weather hits.

Late morning, OH and I headed to the gym. He was going off on his cycling holiday later in the day, and LB and I were heading to Norwich for a couple of nights, so it was a day of packing, doing last minute jobs, tidying up before we left, etc.

I spent an hour in the garden, finally planting out some of the plants that I'd bought in recent months and tidying around. There's still more to plant out, but I'm planning on doing that when I get back next week.

I then moved inside and did the washing up, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned out the fridge and generally got everything together that I was taking with me to Norwich, before getting a shower and finishing off the packing. I didn't want to come back to a messy house, so I tried to leave everything tidy.

Monthly Clothing Purchases - June 2026

This month, I was supposed to be trying to be restrained in terms of buying clothing. The main reason for this, being that I had overspent a little in May and needed to try to stay within budget, and it was a five week month in terms of grocery shopping. However, during our week's holiday in Lincolnshire, LB and I did quite a bit of thrifting whilst there. I don't feel guilty though, as we enjoy doing this together and the prices we paid for things were very reasonable, plus I bought some nice items.

Firstly, whilst shopping in Boston, I found this blue Seasalt sweater vest for £5.  This was probably the best purchase of the week, as it is 80% Merino wool, so it was a steal. To be honest, I needed a new sweater vest, as some of the ones I wear regularly, are becoming very scruffy and bobbled, despite de-bobbling them on numerous occasions. I've worn this once already and like how it looks on. I know I'll get a lot of wear out of it, if I can keep the moths at bay. I'm currently keeping it sealed it in a plastic storage bag, to prevent them getting to it.

We had a great morning thrifting one day in Spalding and the prices in the charity shops there were particularly inexpensive. I ended up buying this pretty cotton(?) maxi dress for £5. I didn't try it on, which with hindsight was a mistake, as I didn't like how the top half looked on, but I didn't want to return it, so I've decided that I'm going to cut it down to a maxi skirt, as I think the fabric is pretty. 

I also bought these two loose cotton tops to wear over the summer, which both cost £2.50.  I liked the lacy sleeves of the maroon one, which should go well with the skirt I make from the dress above. I may remove the ties from the blue one, but I'm not sure yet.

These 3 uncut sewing patterns also found their way home with me, for a total cost of £1.70, which I'm hoping will encourage me to make some clothing myself. I'm particularly excited about the McCall's dress/jumpsuit pattern, as I love the style of both the dresses and the jumpsuit in this pattern. I'm always happy to find good sewing patterns for one tenth or less of their original cost, as they are getting much pricier these days.

I also bought a black oversized Yours t-shirt for the gym for £1 and a lovely navy cotton turtleneck top for layering in the winter months for £1.

Finally, we also paid a visit to a car boot sale whilst on holiday, and although I didn't find any clothing that I liked, I did find this new pair of sandals for £5, which I really like. I've worn them a few times since and they are very comfortable and seem to be holding up. I'm hoping that they last a bit longer than some of the other sandals that I've purchased lately. Only time will tell.

I also made a few purchases this month from my favourite out of town charity shop. One was this loose white viscose top for £3. It should go with quite a few items in my wardrobe and looks nice and cool to wear in the hot weather. I don't own any white tops currently, mainly because of the risk of spillages and staining, but it is nice to have something lighter coloured in my wardrobe.

On a second visit, I purchased this leopard print sundress that I intend to wear as a skirt (as it's way too short to wear as a dress) and this new, unworn pair of khaki Toms pumps, which together cost me £10. The shoes were a steal, as they cost £40-£60 new on the website. I also like the fact that they are an ethical brand.

In total, I spent £36.70 this month, on thrifted clothing, shoes and sewing patterns. Despite this being unintended expenditure, I was super happy with everything I bought and I am looking forward to wearing most of the items over the summer months.

Monthly Financial Round Up - June 2026

I entered June, worrying that I was going to struggle to keep within budget, as I'd overspent a little in May. I promised myself that I wouldn't buy any clothes, but our holiday put paid to that and I did spend some money on them whilst thrifting and at the car boot sale. It didn't, however, really set me back too much and I managed to keep somewhere near the budget for most things.

I thought that by the 5th grocery shop of the month, that I might have to use some money from July's budget, which I did, but thankfully only £15. It could have been a whole lot worse, but wasn't, mainly on account of a few vouchers used during the month and some savvy shopping.

To be honest, every month it a bit of a squeeze at the moment now I'm not working. I just have to be disciplined and stick to the weekly shopping list. The visits to the charity shop and carboots, using my thrifting budget, do help to keep me sane and entertained. There's always the garden and allotment to keep me busy too and as the allotment is now producing food, it is saving me a bit of money on some groceries. 

I sowed some sunflowers this month, both dark red and yellow ones. I bought four packets of various seeds for £1 from a charity shop, when we were on holiday in Lincolnshire. I've now got 10 sunflowers seedlings to grow on and plant out for very little money, providing they all survive.

I did have some positive news this month, in that I got an update on one of my pensions, which is due to be paid to me later this year. It had gone up a little bit, which was good news, but I won't be rich by any means and it may take up to 6 weeks to receive it after turning 60. 

Also I found out that the free London travel pass for over 60's, that I can apply for later this year, is not actually free. A friend who is also turning 60 this year had done her research and it actually costs £60 for the first year you apply and then £18 per year thereafter. I will probably still apply for it, but I'll just have to make sure I get my money's worth and do a lot of travelling around using it, especially for the first year. I should be able to travel for free after 9.30 am, as far as Reading in one direction, so I could visit lots of different places around the edges of London, if I put my mind to it.

Some other good news, that I found about about whilst doing the month end finances, was that I'd unexpectedly received £155 in dividends from some shares I hold. This was timely, as it went straight into the account that I am using to give myself £250 spending money each month and should help to stretch these savings out until my pensions kick in.

Going into July, OH is going to be away for 10 days this month on a cycling trip, which will mean that I won't have to buy quite as much food, so this should save me a little money. In addition, I will be on harvesting and watering duties at the allotment and in the garden whilst he is away, so this will keep me very busy.

In addition, I'm hoping to do some more cleaning and decluttering in the house this month and possibly weave another rug, which should also help to keep me busy. There's work to do in the garden too, washing pots and replanting a border. I'm also hoping, if the weather is cooler, to do a bit more walking, as I've fallen out of the habit completely this month and the extra exercise will do me good.

I will be going away for a couple of days with LB to Norwich this month too. I've wanted to visit this city for a while and OH has treated us to a two night stay whilst he is away, so that is something to look forward to. It will probably include some thrifting and a car boot sale, but I'll tell you all about it.

As a consequence of the above, July is going to be a little different. I'm looking forward to it and getting the house and garden in better order, weather allowing. Do you have any plans for July?

Monthly Makes - June 2026

This month has been a very unproductive month in terms of making anything. I managed to make half a dozen Suffolk puffs on holiday in Lincolnshire, and a few more once home, which hardly bears a mention, but with all the comings and goings of the holiday, travelling to attend OH's brother's funeral in Yorkshire and a heatwave, I just didn't settle back into making anything much.

I did start the month with a new small sewing project using more of the denim, from some jeans that I had deconstructed. This time I made a gardening apron, to hold the bits and pieces I need when out in the garden, i.e. secateurs, gloves, string, etc. It's nothing special, but it was fun to make and used up some more fabric that I probably won't use for much else now. I also added a few patches for decoration. I'm pretty happy with the result. Here's a couple of pictures of the finished item:

I attached a separate little pouch to the waistband on the side, for my secateurs to go in. This prevents them digging into my legs when I bend or crouch down. I've worn it in the garden and it seems to work well for what I need.

I did also successfully transform a dress I'd bought on holiday into a maxi skirt. Here's a before picture:

I really didn't like the way the top part looked on, so I cut it down to a maxi skirt. The fabric from the top was cut up and will be used for quilting or other small projects. I'm pretty happy with the result and I am much more likely to wear it as a skirt. Here's the after picture:

If you are a maker, I do hope that you've managed to be much more productive than I have this month. Hopefully, next month I'll have more to post about.