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.

A Super Hot Lost Week - W/E 28th June 2026

This week, was forecast to be super hot here in London and the South East of the UK, with red weather warnings being issued by the Met Office. Monday was relatively hot at 29 degrees celcius. I was doing my usual thing of heading out of town to do the weekly shop. It was hot, but there was a breeze, which made it bearable.

The shopping went okay. I did most of it at Lidl, but I did have a £4.50 voucher off a £30 shop at Sainsbury's, so I did most of the rest of the shop there. I no longer have loyalty to one shop. I go wherever I can use a voucher or buy discounted items. I made sure that everything I bought at Sainsburys didn't cost more than I'd get it for elsewhere, so it didn't eat into the voucher saving. I was issued with another voucher at the till, so I'll be shopping there again next week. I treated LB and I to some summer punch (i.e. supermarket branded Pimms type drink). It isn't actually as nice as the real branded drink though, but is a refreshing drink during hot weather.

I also treated myself to a mooch around my favourite out of town charity shop. I hadn't been there for 3 or 4 weeks. I tried a few things on, but came away with just one item, a white viscose loose fitting top, which will be very comfortable to wear on hot days. 

The only thing that marred my day, was the atrocious driving of numerous people on the roads. It seems to be getting worse. On the way home, one guy aggressively cut in front of the car in front of me and then whilst stopped in traffic, got out of his car and did a little victory dance. Madness. The heat seems to make people turn crazy.

When I got home, OH had got out the air conditioning unit, in readiness for the heatwave, so we were  all set. I planned on staying very close to home for the duration. I was lucky that I could do so.

After supper, I persuaded OH to come with me to the allotment to do some harvesting, but after about 10 minutes picking gooseberries, I had to come home. I was being eaten alive by midges or gnats. Poor OH was left to harvest on his own. I promised to go back during the daytime and make sure I was appropriately dressed. (My ankles were bare!)

Tuesday morning, I was awoken at 3am by a loud clap of thunder and then stayed awake for an hour or so listening to the continuous thunder and lightning outside. It was a mega thunderstorm, but the garden got a good water, so all was good. It was a little hotter than Monday. 

I had booked to go to Zumba in the morning, so took myself off there. I enjoyed the class. I didn't do a whole lot for the rest of the day. It was pretty hot, reaching 33 degrees celcius, so I stayed indoors. I ended up binge watching a Harlen Coben series called Lazarus on Amazon Prime, which took care of the afternoon and part of the evening. OH was watching England play football in the evening, so I took myself off upstairs to read. It stayed hot well into the evening, it still being 27 degrees at 9pm.

On Wednesday, I didn't need to go anywhere or do anything in particular. As it was forecast to be hotter still and actually got to 35 degrees today, I decided to stay home and do very little. Even getting showered and dressed made me feel sweaty, so I was happy to do nothing and stay cool. LB, meanwhile, was sweltering in the local pet shop again, so she was glad to get home to the air conditioning in the kitchen. I did a bit of reading today. I'm currently reading John Steinbeck's The Red Pony, which is good. It's only a very thin, small book, so it won't take me long to read. It's beginning to feel like a bit of a lost week because of the heat, but it's probably better and safer to prioritise staying cool, than risk getting overheated by trying to do too much.

Thursday, I decided that I needed to be a bit more productive, despite the heat, so I got up and ready a bit earlier whilst it was still cool and OH and I headed down to the allotment to do some harvesting and watering. There were lots of peas to harvest, and still more gooseberries. It had just been way too hot to go there during the day for the past couple of days and we were getting worried that they would go over. Within an hour we had done all the harvesting we needed to do, watered and I'd done a bit of weeding here and there, ready for inspections at the end of this month.

I then needed to head off to the gym for my Aerobics class and left the weighing and washing of the produce until I got back. It took a couple of hours to wash and weigh, top and tail and unpod most of the peas. The freezer is filling up with gooseberries, as it is just way too hot to make jam right now. but when the weather cools down a bit, I will do it. We've currently harvested over 20kg of produce, so the allotment is producing well. It will be interesting to see how much in total it has produced by the end of the growing season. I'll let you know.

On Friday, OH was feeling a bit fed up of being couped up in the house every day, so he suggested lunch in a local restaurant. LB and I were happy to oblige. We had an okay lunch, as the restaurant we visited wasn't as good as when we've been previously. I don't think we'll be visiting again. We then sauntered back home, via the local Co-op and a local charity shop, but I didn't see anything I wanted to buy. We were glad to get back into the relative coolness of the house. The thermometer almost hit 38 degrees today, which was insane. I'm definitely over this weather and can't wait for it to cool down a bit.

I did a bit of laundry and then hung it out, watered my indoor plants and read for a while. Just a very chill afternoon. OH was cycling later, so he headed out for that. Rather him than me. I stayed home and watched a movie.

Saturday, was what I think was the last of the super hot weather. It was forecast to be 32 degrees, so a little cooler. It was another day of staying put at home. I had a nap in the afternoon, as I'd woken early and then later the weather cooled quite a bit, which was a big relief. I was finally able to get out in the garden and do what I love to do, i.e. potter and prune, with a lovely accompanying breeze. It was so nice, as the heat has almost made the garden out of bounds this week. Hopefully, we're back to normal temperatures from here on in.

It was a much cooler day on Sunday, thank goodness. In the morning, I headed out to the gym for an hour or so. OH was out cycling and LB had picked up an extra shift at the local pet shop. There was a lovely breeze today and some cloud, which was much appreciated. We could at least open up the windows and doors and let some air in. I've felt a bit confined to the house this week and am so happy to have cooler weather and be able to get on with things outside and inside.

After supper, I popped to the local shops to get a few bits and called in at the allotment on the way back. I harvested a couple of things and watered and OH joined me there shortly afterwards. Our inspection is next weekend, but I think it's all tidy enough. There may be a few gaps in planting, mainly due to harvesting, but so be it.

I hope you've survived the heatwave if you're in the UK and if not, I hope you've had a good week.

A Mixed Week - W/E 21st June 2026

This week has been a mixed one. It started off with an out of town shop as usual on Monday, of which there was nothing interesting to report.

On Tuesday, after my class at the gym, we got packed up and ready to travel north for OH's brother's funeral. There were a few small issues to iron out before the day of the funeral the following day, that had been causing stress, but by the time we got to bed this had been done and everyone was in a better place.

As a consequence, the day itself went really well. The service was good and I think most people came away feeling that it had been a good day, albeit a sad one. It went as well as could be expected in any case and it was nice to meet family members I hadn't met before and catch up with others that I had.

After drinks and a meal in a local pub with everyone, OH and I set off back to London mid afternoon. We've spent so much time away travelling for holidays and visits in the last few months, that OH needed to get back for work and to get back to some sort of normality. It's always strange when you come away from a funeral. It churns up lots of different emotions that take time to settle back down.

On Thursday, both OH and I went to the gym in the morning, me to my class, OH to work out with weights. We both then walked back, stopping off at my favourite mulberry bush in the park, which is currently laden with fruit. We ate a few berries before continuing the walk home.

A bit later, we headed over to the allotment to water and harvest. There was lots of lettuce, peas in pods, gooseberries, raspberries and blueberries to harvest, plus a few beetroot and one ball shaped courgette. I planted out a couple of the white borage plants that I'd grown from seed. They were getting too big for their current pots. I also weeded a little and put the bins out ready for emptying the next day. We do love spending time down on the allotment, it's very calming. 

Back at home, I had sewn some sunflower seeds last week. Two different varieties, one red, one yellow. They have both germinated well. I'm a bit late sewing these, but hopefully they'll still have time to grow fully.

Friday was a quiet, stay at home kind of day. It was hot outside and as I didn't need to go anywhere, I was very happy to stay home and just catch up on a few bits that needed doing and stay cool. OH was cycling in the evening, and LB was out at a party, so I stayed home alone and finished watching an old BBC serialisation of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Bronte, followed by starting a BBC serialisation of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, which is my favourite of all the Bronte sisters' books. A lovely self indulgent evening, with no football or cricket, for a change.

On Saturday, OH suggested that we head out for the afternoon on our bikes. We cycled over to Hoxton Market, had some lunch in a cafe and then wandered through the market. This market is the opposite of many of the gentrified markets in East London. It is still a very traditional East End Market, probably one of the last ones remaining, so it wasn't too busy and we could stroll through with our bikes.

We then decided to visit the nearby Museum of the Home, which is a museum of interiors that as a family, we have visited many times over the years, although we haven't been there in a good few years. It had changed somewhat since our last visit, with some new galleries being created. We walked through the museum first and then went out into the gardens which have lots of interesting plants in them.

On our way home we had ice creams en route and then cycled via the back streets of Hackney to our local Lidl, to pick up some bits that we'd run out of and also some bits for a BBQ later in the evening. We had a nice afternoon out. I rarely go anywhere in London on Saturdays, as it can get so busy, but being out on bikes, we were able to avoid the busy areas and find parts of London that were not so crowded.

Later, we had our third BBQ of the year. It wasn't too hot today, as it clouded over at times. I was thankful for this.

Sunday, was a super chill day. OH was out cycling all day and LB was working, so I was home alone. I went to the gym and worked out late morning, and then came home, had lunch and pottered around doing jobs that didn't get done the day before. It was hot again, so I was happy to stay inside most of the day keeping cool. I did pop out later to water the allotment, but only when it had cooled off in the evening.

A chill end to a sad beginning to the week.

Back to London and Reality - W/E 14th June 2026

Having returned to London on Monday afternoon, we were excited to see how our garden and the allotment had fared in our absence. We were lucky that there had been lots of rain whilst we were away and as a consequence, we hadn't lost any plants. In fact, they were probably a bit over watered if anything. I spent a little while pottering in the garden, deadheading and checking up on all the plants and then later OH and I walked over to the allotment and harvested lots of lettuce, raspberries and strawberries. 

Everything had grown really well on the plot. The peas are growing pods and there are small fruit on the tomatoes and cucumbers. OH planted out a few more lettuce and I weeded a little. There was absolutely no need to water at all. There's nothing worse than going on holiday and coming back to dead plants, so we considered ourselves lucky that everything was okay.

On Tuesday, I got up and unpacked from the holiday. I had done my laundry the day before, but needed to unpack toiletries and other items. I had booked my usual Zumba class for 10am and I was very happy to get back to it. I got drenched in a torrential downpour on my way home. It was just as well that I was intending to have a shower and change when I got home, before heading out to do some grocery shopping out of town.

I set off at about 12.30pm and visited a few shops to get everything we needed. I used a £5 off voucher at Tesco and another £5 off voucher I'd accumulated at Lidl, under their new points scheme. It was good to get some food in the house, as there was virtually nothing fresh when we got home, save for what we harvested at the allotment. We had to just manage with what was in the freezer and pantry.

On Wednesday, I didn't have to get up early for anything, so I stayed in bed late reading a bit of both of the books I'm currently reading. I didn't really do much reading on holiday, so it was good to get back to it. I eventually got up and ready, did a bit of blogging and later in the afternoon headed out to meet a couple of friends for an early supper. One friend, like me, is celebrating her 60th birthday this year.

Anyway, I stopped off at Lidl, during a torrential downpour, to pick up a bottle of wine, and a woman was having a full on melt down, due to a security guard watching her. She was screeching at the top of her voice for over 10 minutes about how she was going to lose him his job and, of course, the staff were so distracted by her it took longer to get them to authorise purchases and other people used the distraction to try to shoplift. It was chaos. This is a perfect example of why I don't like to shop locally. There is very rarely any kind of drama when I shop out of town.

I jumped back on another bus and met my friends at the restaurant. It was good to have a catchup of everyone's news. Both my friends were celebrating birthdays this month, and the birth of a new grandchild is also imminent for one of them, so we managed to work our way through two bottles of wine between us, which was unusual. Eventually, we left and headed our separate ways home.

On Thursday, I was booked into aerobics at 10am. It felt like hard work today, probably because I was a bit hungover. My body felt like a lead weight. It doesn't help that I haven't been going as regularly, due to one thing or another. I didn't do a lot in the afternoon, save some laundry and have a nap on the sofa. I was feeling tired and completely lacking in motivation. I did start a new sewing project in the evening. I've decided to make an apron for gardening in, to hold gloves, secateurs, my phone, etc. I'm using what's left of some jeans I deconstructed. I'm just not feeling like working on my ongoing projects at the moment and needed a fresh challenge.

I didn't sleep well on Thursday night, as LB was out at a concert and with friends. I never sleep until she gets home, which was gone 3am on this particular occasion, so I couldn't get myself out of bed very early on Friday morning. When I did eventually get up, I showered and then pottered around the kitchen doing odd jobs. OH went to the allotment and harvested more produce, which I weighed and washed when he got back. 

I did a bit of machine sewing on the new apron project in the afternoon. It didn't take long. I'll post a picture in my monthly makes post. It's not been a very productive week, especially knowing that we're going to Yorkshire again next week for the funeral of OH's brother. I can't seem to settle into doing anything. The weather hasn't been great either, although it did finally stop raining on Friday and we got some long overdue sunshine again.

On Saturday, it was lovely and sunny, so I spent the afternoon pottering in the garden. I potted on one of the white borage plants I grew from seed. Here it is in it's new pot:

It's growing to a good size, but should get bigger. I'm hoping the bees like it and the leaves are also useful for plant food, besides being pretty that is. I've got a few more plants and want to put some at the allotment and some in the garden.

My old cactus seems to be happy at the moment and is sending off lots of flower buds, some of which have opened. I always love seeing this plant flower.

I picked the rest of the blackcurrants from the garden bush. I picked a few before we went on holiday and froze them. I weighed them all together to add to my tally. Not a great amount, but there's another bush at the allotment, along with lots of gooseberries, which when put together make a nice jam. We've still got four jars of jam that I made last year, but I will be making more once I've harvested everything.

I also ate the ripe black mulberries from my tree in the garden. They are so sweet. Again, not a huge crop, but very tasty.

Later on Saturday, OH and I took a stroll over to the allotment, where he harvested a row of new potatoes and I did some weeding and planted out a couple of dahlias I'd bought whilst on holiday. I also harvested some of the gooseberries. The paths that I'd cleared of weeds a few weeks ago, had more weeds growing through, so I cleared them all ready for the inspection at the end of the month. I may need to do a bit more if they grow back in the next two weeks.

On Sunday, I got up, put lots of laundry away and then got ready for the gym. I'm having to virtually drag myself there these days, but I need to go really and my gym session went okay. I didn't do a lot for the rest of the day. I read just my library book, which was due back the following day, so I needed to finish it.

Hope you've had a good week.

A Week Away in Lincolnshire - W/E 8th June 2026

I was very excited for this week, as it was going to be different from the usual.  We were going away for a week and LB was coming with us. For this holiday, we decided to stay in the UK, what with all the hooha over aviation fuel and flight cancellations, not knowing when OH's brother's funeral was going to be and the fact that OH was going to Europe for 10 days cycling the following month. LB and I were happy to have a UK holiday, on the condition that we at least had a hot tub to relax in, so we set about looking for a comfortable place in a countryside setting with a hot tub.

I was quite surprised at how expensive it is to rent accommodation for holidays in the UK now. It has doubled in price since before Lockdown. Sadly, the days of renting a lovely cottage for £500 for a week are long gone, in most places in the UK.

Anyway, after a bit of tooing and frooing over whether to go to the South West or Suffolk/Norfolk, we eventually decided on South Lincolnshire, near The Wash, mainly for it's proximity to Yorkshire, in case the funeral was going to be that week, although it wasn't. We hadn't really visited this area much and it is close to the Lincolnshire Wolds and there are lots of other interesting things to do in the area. We rented a converted Windmill with a hot tub, near the coast on the edge of The Wash. 

LB and I don't like super hot weather, so we were quite relieved to find that the week we were going, things would be cooling down a bit and we'd even have some rain. (Which was good for the garden/allotment whilst we were away!)

We were staying Monday to Monday, so on Monday lunchtime, we packed up the car and headed north. It was probably a 2-3 hour drive from London, although it took us more like 4-5 hours, as we stopped for lunch in one of the oldest pubs in the UK, which was also purported to be haunted by a ghost from the 11th century. We also stopped off in the largely Georgian town of Wisbech, Cambs. for cake and a cup of tea in a lovely cafe, before finally getting to the windmill. Here's a picture of it:

It was lovely inside and out, but did have very steep stairs to each floor, which were much easier to negotiate coming down backwards. We spent the first evening settling in and I slept really well, which was good.

On Tuesday, we headed into Boston, Lincs. mid morning and had a wander around. We explored the town, which we enjoyed, picked up a few bits of food shopping, had some lunch in a cafe and then drove as near to the Wash as we could and went for a walk along the newly named King Charles III coastal path. We did a bit of bird watching and then got completely drenched walking back to the car, as there was a heavy rainfall, so we then retreated back to the Mill for the remainder of the evening to dry off and chill.

Wednesday, OH went off on a bike ride, so LB and I headed to Skegness 12 miles up the coast. I remember having childhood holidays here with my sisters and parents. Unfortunately, it started to rain heavily when we got there. We dived in and out of a few shops and then drove up to meet OH at a cafe a few miles away. After lunch, we drove up to Mablethorpe, which has a lovely sandy beach and took a little walk on the beach and had a 99 ice cream. Got to be done at the seaside. On the way home, we picked up fish and chips in a beautiful little village called Wainfleet St Mary, and took them home to enjoy, followed by a soak in the hot tub which was lovely. (Finally!)

On Thursday, we drove over to Lincoln and visited the norman castle there, which houses one of only four remaining original copies of the infamous Magna Carta. It was something that OH has wanted to do for ages, so he was very happy to go. 

We visited the victorian prison that was subsequently built in the castle grounds and also walked part of the castle walls, as part of our admission ticket, which gave great views of the historic part of the city which you can see in the photo above, with it's cobbled streets and small independent shops. OH also took a look in the Cathedral, but a service was just starting, so he couldn't stay for long. We had lunch in a pub and then, as we were only 1 hour away from OH's mum's house, we decided to pay her a visit for a few hours. We also visited his brother's partner too, before returning to Linconlshire and our rental.

Friday, OH was heading out cycling again, so LB and I headed to the town of Spalding this time, to do some thrifting. There were lots of charity shops in the town centre and they were so reasonably priced. We had a lot of fun visiting them. I spent £15, but bought three tops, a dress and three new, uncut sewing patterns, two of which cost just 10p each, plus a few other sewing bits, as some of the charity shops had great crafting sections. I'm hoping they'll help get me back into making some of my own clothes. The clothes I bought will be included in my monthly clothing purchase post at the end of the month. We were both thrifted out by the end of the day. We met up with OH later and had lunch before returning to the mill.

On Saturday, I had been looking forward to visiting a local car boot sale, but unfortunately the weather was awful with high winds and rain. I figured there'd be very few sellers braving it, so I looked online for something else to do and found a National Trust property that sounded interesting. LB was happy to stay at the mill and OH had booked himself on a Brewery tour, which I wasn't really interested in. I dropped him off and then made my way to Gunby Hall and Estate. Here's a picture of the house:

It was £12 entry to the house and gardens, and as I particularly wanted to visit the walled garden, I opted for this. The house was interesting, or should I say, the family who lived there were super interesting. The volunteers in each room were very knowledgeable and were very happy to tell you about the history of the house and family. I really enjoyed it. I then had a walk through the walled garden which was a mixture of flowers and fruit/vegetables. I always love visiting walled gardens and this one wasn't a disappointment. It was definitely a good choice of somewhere to visit. Here are some pictures of the walled garden:

In the evening, we all went out to a local bowling alley and booked a lane for an hour. We managed to squeeze in 3 games, which was fun. On the way home, we picked up an indian takeaway from a shop in the village. The food was amazing and it was a rare treat for us.

We finally got to a car boot sale on Sunday in Adderthorpe. OH cycled there and met LB and I once we'd finished browsing. I didn't buy a lot, but I did get 4 plants for £5 in total. One thing I loved about Lincolnshire, was that there were lots of houses selling plants outside and you just popped the money in a tin. I bought two more plants from such a stall, but could happily have bought more if we'd had room in the car. Here's a picture of the ones I bought:

They included two dahlias, a rosemary cutting, spearmint, a purple verbena and a purple sedum, the latter two were bought from the stall on the side of the road.

After leaving the car boot, we drove to Skegness again, for OH to visit this time. Luckily it was a  lovely hot day. We had a game of crazy golf, (which is a family tradition at the seaside) walked the beach and pier and had an ice cream, before returning for our last night at the mill.

We had a lovely stay, despite very changeable weather, and it was very restful. A wonderful change from the hustle and bustle of London life.

Monthly Clothing Purchases - May 2026

This month, I have once again bought quite a few items of clothing, all second hand from both Charity shops and car boot sales. I haven't spent a huge amount and have tried to stick to summer clothing, mainly in natural materials.

The first item I bought was from a charity shop on our local high street. I bought this pair of black leather Mary Jane style shoes that cost £8.

I thought the price quite reasonable for leather shoes from Hush Puppies and they were in very good condition. They looked and felt comfortable too, which is essential for me these days.

I then bought this lovely 100% cotton print dress for £5 from a car boot sale. Unfortunately, when I got it home, it didn't look very nice on. I tried to make a few changes to it to make it more flattering, but I couldn't get it to work for my body shape and it now can't really be donated, so I'll probably just use the beautiful fabric for a sewing project. It was a bit disappointing really, but you live and learn. This sometimes happens when I can't try something on, but I liked the print and fabric so much that I wanted to take a punt on it. It's a beautiful lightweight cotton, so I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

We then made an emergency visit to Yorkshire and I did visit one or two charity shops whilst there. I bought this very comfortable looking pair of sandals for £3 in one shop:

You'll notice that there's only one sandal in the photo, as on my second time wearing them, the sole of the second one completely detached from the upper. We're going to try to glue it back on, but I'm not optimistic. It was a great pity, as I liked them. 

When we returned to London, I visited my favourite out of town charity shop and spent £3 on a floaty short cotton dress, which I promptly cut down to make this top. This is another lightweight cotton and should be a good option on hot summer days. I also bought a pair of brand new black jersey cycling shorts for £1, to wear under dresses on hot days. For £1, they are super useful to have.

I also paid a visit to my favourite local charity shop nearer to home this month and bought this pair of leopard print pants. They are polyester, which I'm not keen on, but I do like a bit of leopard print and they fit comfortably and were reduced to £2.50 on the sale rail. I decided, after taking the photo, to elasticate the ankles to make them less formal and more jogger like, as it's my preferred style in trousers. I will probably wear them in the winter months, as polyester is too hot to wear in the summer. I can see me wearing them with a big sweater and boots.

Finally, on the second Bank Holiday weekend, we made a visit to a different to us car boot sale and I bought a few pieces of clothing.  First was this bright green cotton dress for just £2,

I do like this dress, but for some reason it makes my bust look very, lets say, matronly, which isn't exactly a good look. I'm divided about whether to hang onto it in case I lose a bit of weight in that area, add some iron on embroidery in this area to detract, or to cut it down to a skirt. I'm not going to rush into making a decision. I'm going to see if I can find some embroidery patches first. I have one, which did make a big difference, but I need two, one for each side. Hold fire for a possible transformation.

I also picked up this 100% linen shirt for £1, which I couldn't leave behind,

some cotton blend loose fitting pants for £2, again jogger style,

and finally another cotton (jersey) dress for £3. This last dress was a bit of a gamble, as it was size medium, but I bought it anyway, and when I tried it on, it looked okay. It's a very simple sleeveless tiered maxi style, very easy to throw on on a hot day. I'm very happy with it.

In total then, I spent £30.50 on clothing this month, but I did get a lot of different options for my money.