A Wardrobe Changeover and Some Progress Made - W/E 18th October 2026 - Part One

Back in London, the week started off with a lie in. Travel, I find, is tiring, even if it's within the UK. I eventually surfaced, did some unpacking from the weekend, showered and headed out to do the weekly shop, albeit a bit later than usual. This week, I kept strictly to buying only what we needed for the week and it did keep the groceries well within budget for once. I did use £7.00 worth of vouchers and nectar points, which did help and I did drop a couple of Xmas food items into the trolley. I'm trying to buy at least one item each week now to spread the cost.  For once, I didn't visit the charity shop, which was progress for me.

Our new greenhouse arrived first thing today. We just need to paint it with preservative before we can assemble it. I'll probably do a separate post on our progress on this front.

On Tuesday, I woke up late after a terrible, restless night. I had breakfast and quickly got ready for the gym, only to find that my class had been cancelled. Luckily, this time around, I hadn't left the house, which was an improvement on the last time this happened.

Instead of the gym, I decided to do a seasonal wardrobe change over, as it's starting to cool down. The weather seemed appropriate as it was drizzly outside, but by the time I'd finished it was sunny and dry. I tried most things on, to make sure they still fitted. Some things were a little snug, which was a bit depressing. The most depressing thing, however, was how little colour there was in my winter wardrobe.  So much black and navy, very little else. I've got so many chunky jumpers for very cold weather, but I don't know if I'll need them this winter. 

I did leave a few summer items in there to make sure I get more use out of them and to have a few lighter options for warm days. There's also a few things in the laundry, that aren't black or navy. Here's a picture of my new wardrobe offering:

Pretty unexciting, but it needed to be done. It will be good to be able to choose from things I haven't seen for a few months.

After lunch, I decided to once again try to get my pension documents certified at our main post office. My bank statement had arrived whilst we were away over the weekend and all I needed to do was to photocopy it on OH's printer before heading out. I walked into town and finally on my third attempt, I got the documents certified and sent off. It was a relief. 

On the way back, I started getting a very nasty stinging pain in my groin which was very uncomfortable. I get it quite often when I walk any distance and it is quite debilitating. I decided it was time to see the doctor about it, as I'm concerned that it might be a hernia. I called the surgery, filled in an online form and then by the time I got home, the surgery was on the phone asking me to come in. I just about managed to get in on time, no thanks to the traffic and new road system in our area and the outcome is that I'm going for an ultrasound in the next few weeks, to see if it is indeed a hernia. 

I have to say, that I got impecable service from our NHS today, which I was very grateful for. I've been ignoring this issue for a while now, but it's been getting steadily worse and at least needed some sort of medical opinion. The doctor did also give me some useful advice on how to manage things in the meantime, so I'll be taking that on board going forward and see if it helps, especially when walking any distance.

When I got home, I decided to make soup for supper, chopping up whatever vegetables were in the fridge and throwing them all in along with some left over stock from the freezer. It was very tasty and used up lots of veggies we had languishing in the fridge.

Wednesday was my day to go to the Green Gym. When I got there, I learned that we were working on clearing the pond which was leaking and needed a new liner. Myself and another lady got to work on cutting out some reeds, whose roots had all grown together to form large masses. It was hard physical work, but eventually we got all the plants removed and then removed the old liner, which was split in several places, ready to put in a new thicker liner at a later date.

I remembered to take a few photos this week whilst I was there:

We had a good day today, but I was shattered when I finally got home. I was perked up by finding that my new 60+ Oyster card had arrived, so at least next week I'll be able to catch a bus to and from the train station for free, which will cut down the travelling time and save me the 30 minute walk each way. I can't wait to start using it.

More Frustration, A Birthday Meet Up and a Birthday Weekend Away - W/E 11th October 2026

The week started with LB still feeling unwell. I wasn't 100%, I may have got a mild version of what everyone else had, but could still function well enough.

I had a lie in as usual, and then got up and ready and went out to do the weekly shop. I needed quite a bit this week, as we'd run out of a lot of things, but they were mostly inexpensive things for once. I did use a voucher at Sainsburys and got £4.50 off my shop, which was good. I put petrol in the car, as it's always cheaper where I shop. 

OH and I are currently burning our way through the second series of The Pitt, which we're really enjoying.

On Tuesday, I went to Zumba as usual, which was good. OH was cycling on and off most of the day at the Velodrome. In the afternoon, I started another alteration of a garment in the wardrobe to make it more wearable and I also started the construction of the skirt by pinning the pattern pieces onto the fabric.

I then decided to go out to my nearest bank branch, to try to get the paperwork done for my pension application. Surprise, surprise, I was thwarted yet again due to the bank not being willing/able to stamp the bank statement I printed off in the branch. I ended up ordering a statement through the post, but I'll have to wait another week for it, before I can get it certified at the post office. Frustration doesn't cover how I felt. I've just parked it for now to protect my sanity.

On Wednesday, it started raining from 9.30am and was forecast for most of the day. I was very happy to get some proper rain. We'd had very little since much earlier in the year. The plants in the garden really needed a good soak.

I finished a sewing alteration today, that I'd started the day before. I had to make further adjustments after trying it on, but I've now got it to how I like it, so I machine sewed the hems and it is now done. 

Later in the afternoon, I headed out to meet a couple of friends for supper. It was kind of a celebration of my 60th birthday. We meet periodically through the year. One of my friends turned 60 earlier this year and the other turned 75, so we've all had big birthdays this year. We had a lovely evening catching up with each other's news. I took a bottle of champagne, that we've had since last Christmas and we all shared it. (The restaurant isn't licensed so you can pay corkage and take your own alcohol).

Thursday, I was back at the gym. The teacher changed up the class today, so it was a bit different. I enjoyed it though. LB was working all day, and OH was cycling at the velodrome again for most of the day, so when I got home I had the house to myself. I decided to wash all the dirty garden pots and tidy the greenhouse and garden a little. It was nice and sunny after the rain the day before, so it felt good to get outside and do something productive and tick a job off my list.

In addition to washing the pots, I potted on a few plants, put away the garden furniture and the BBQ and swept up some leaves and bagged them up to create leaf mulch. OH came home for some lunch and helped me clean the patio using his high pressure washer that he uses to clean his bikes. We needed to clear it, as we'll be stacking the greenhouse panels on it when they get delivered next week, until we paint them and assemble it.

I received notification today that one of my pensions will start to be paid to me shortly, but unfortunately they need to tax it until they are notified otherwise by HMRC. As I'm not currently working, I shouldn't be taxed, therefore I had to ring the tax office and let them know. It took a while to get through, as they are always very busy. When I did eventually get through, they couldn't actually do anything about it until I've received my first payment, so I need to call them back once it goes into my bank account. I can see that I'll have to go through this whole process again for the next one when that gets finalised.  Anyway, the upside was, that my monthly pension payments and lump sum worked out to be slightly more than I'd been forecast, so I'm not going to argue with that and I can now look forward to actually receiving it.

Once I finally got off the phone, I decided to head to the allotment and harvest the remainder of the beetroot, deadhead my dahlias and pick a few lettuce and tomatoes. I then dug over the beetroot bed and put the bins out ready to be emptied.  When I got home, I boiled up and pickled the beetroot along with the previous harvest, so that it is now all processed ready to eat.

I also received some birthday presents by post from family members today. A lovely bunch of flowers and a bottle of prosecco, plus lots of chocolates and biscuits. I feel very spoilt. It was a good day.

Friday was a day of packing, watering plants and generally getting ready to go away for the weekend. OH was working in the morning, so we set off around 1.30pm and headed off to Brighton. We got there around 4pm and went straight to our accommodation which was lovely. It was pretty central, compared to where we'd stayed the last time we visited Brighton. We were just around the corner from a street full of different restaurants of all cuisines. 

We relaxed in the house for an hour or so and then headed for a walk and to get a drink in a couple of pubs in the vicinity. We had a nice evening, but we were all tired, so we got takeaways on the way home and ate them back at the house whilst watching Celebrity Traitors. The only down side to the accommodation, was that it was right behind a pub, which stayed open until 2am and which was very noisy, so it took a while until I got to sleep, but it did quieten down by midnight.

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast and then headed out into the town for a wander. We did quite a bit of walking about town and ambling around the Laines, where there are lots of small independent shops and restaurants. I managed to start my Xmas shopping proper and get something for both OH and LB.  OH got me some perfume for my birthday, which I was very happy about. I had wanted to find some new trainers, but couldn't find any that I liked, so I asked him for some of my favourite perfume instead, as I haven't had any for over a year.

We also stopped for lunch in a small cafe, which was nice and then saw some Morris dancers, which was fun to watch. Not something you see every day. 

Brighton had such a lovely vibe. It's very relaxed, diverse and inclusive. Everyone we came across was very friendly and helpful. We all really liked it and felt very comfortable there. After a full day in town, we returned to the accommodation and watched a movie, before heading out later to a local Indian restaurant for supper. The food was great, although we did eat a little too much.

On Sunday, we had to be out of the accommodation by 11am, so we packed up and headed to Brighton Racecourse, where there was a Car Boot sale to wander around. I didn't buy a whole lot, as I didn't have a lot of cash on me, but I did get more terracotta pots and a patio brush for the garden, plus a couple of bits of clothing. 

From there, we drove to the town of Lewes, which was half an hour away, where we had a lovely lunch in the walled garden of a cafe, before exploring the town.  We got home around 4pm. We'd had a lovely weekend away, but we were tired and happy to be home again. I had a lovely birthday weekend, couldn't have asked for more.

Slow Progress This Week - W/E 4th October 2026

The week started slowly. I love Mondays, as I don't have to be up early, so I tend to start the day in a leisurely way. I headed out of town to do the weekly shop as usual, but on this occasion I kept running into traffic issues. One very large roundabout was gridlocked and it took a while to get through it. Fortunately for me, I was turning off onto a road where it was clear, not the case for some of the traffic.

Anyway, I then ran into more traffic due to some works and extra traffic lights, which was a bit annoying, so I had to take a different route. The shopping went well though. I had a strict budget with it being the end of the month and I managed to bring the shop in under budget, which was a result. I did use £7.50 worth of vouchers today, which helped, but I also managed to get a few things at a reduced price and picked up a few more things for the pantry cupboard, just in case.

I did go to the charity shop, as it is my weekly treat to myself. I know that's a dangerous way to look at it, but I usually stay out of the shops for the rest of the week. I tried some clothing on, but none of it looked that nice, which is just as well, as I'm on a no/very low buy with regard to clothing from 1st October. I find it difficult to resist looking though.

Although I didn't buy any clothing, I did buy a few household linens. I bought a children's quilt cover with a very cute design for £2. I've got a specific project in mind for this, as it isn't a fabric I could make into clothing as the design is a little too childish. I think it is cotton, but there are no labels so I can't be certain. It feels like it though.

Another item I bought was a shrunken wool blanket for £2, which I'm going to use as a rug. It looks like it's a bit felted, so it should work well as a rug, may be in one of our reception rooms.  For £2 it is worth trying it.

I also bought a white cotton duvet cover set with 2 pillow cases for £4, mainly because it was pretty and made of 100% cotton. It needed a few repairs and was a bit of a gamble, as it said it was a double on the price tag, but looked more like a king size, which all our duvets are. I figured that the repairs would be easy enough for me to do and as it is white and I don't do white anything, I may dye it a darker colour. 

When I got home, after unpacking the shopping, I set to repairing it by hand. I do love a repair job. It's so satisfying if you can keep something in use, especially if it is cotton and has used precious resources in it's production and manufacture. Once repaired, I measured it and it was a kingsize, which was good. I put it through a 60 degree wash and I'll decide whether or not I want to dye it or not. I'll do a separate post about what I do with these items.

On Tuesday, I was back at Zumba in the morning, which was good, although there weren't many of us today. When I got home, I did some financial reckoning for the month. I received a request today to provide more information for one of my pensions, which was frustrating, as I thought I'd completed the application. Seems not, I now have to forward several more documents before it can be processed.

In the evening, OH and I watched The Rivals of Amziah King, starring Matthew MacConaghy. It was quite a good film, loosely about beekeeping and bluegrass music. Worth a watch.

Wednesday, was my day for going to the Green Gym. I made the decision to cycle there today for the first time. Google maps estimated it would take 22 minutes, but it took me more like 45 minutes. It reminded me of when I used to cycle to work in Central London, except this route was along the canal for 90% of the route. It wasn't a difficult route, but it was pretty tiring, especially the return journey. At least it got me a bit more exercise and saved me £4.60 on the train. I found out the other day, that even when I get my free travelcard, I won't be able to use it on the route to the Green Gym, which is very annoying. I'll either have to continue to pay, or will have to cycle.

Whilst at the green gym, I got to grips with the hose today. I don't ever use a garden hose, as our plot is right next to the water trough, so we use watering cans. It was a learning curve to learn the nuances of this particular hose. I did quite a bit of watering today, sowed some onion seedlings, rocket seeds, planted out more lettuce seedlings and did a bit of weeding here and there. The lettuce I planted out last week seems to be doing well, which I was pleased about. I'm not there next week, as I'm  meeting some friends to celebrate my 60th birthday. When I go back, I'll try to remember to get some photos of the community garden. It's on quite a big site and has a large polytunnel, lots of raised beds and a fire pit. It's a nice space.

On Thursday, I was back at the gym for a class, which was good. I was tired when I got home, so I had a bit of a nap and then did a bit of reading after lunch. I then decided to do a few jobs and I finally got around to applying for the free 60+ Oyster card. I now just need to wait and see if everything is okay with my application (mainly the photo) and if it is, I should receive my travel card in the next couple of weeks, which will be great.

OH was out for a work event and LB was working at the pet shop, so I was home alone. After I'd done the things I needed to, I ended up watching an episode of the Chelsea Detective. When OH came home, he was quite unwell, suffering from some kind of stomach bug. I'm hoping I don't catch it.

Friday, was a day where I didn't need to be anywhere or do anything in particular, so I had a nice long lie in and read my book. OH was still unwell and spent the morning sleeping on the sofa. I got up, showered and ready for the day. I was happy to have a very homey day, doing small things. 

On Saturday, I was determined to try and get the documents for my pension application certified at the Post Office, so that I could send them off. It was going to cost me another £12.75 to do this and then another £5 to post it off, but I put that down to being a necessity. I walked into town with OH. We bumped into our old neighbours on the way and stopped for a chat. It was nice to see them. They are a nice family. 

When I got to the Post Office, I was in luck as there was no queue. I thought it was going to be a quick process, but it turned out that I needed to photocopy the documents I wanted certifying (I thought this was included in the service, but no), so I had to go a couple of doors down and spend another £2 to get that done. When I got back to the post office, one of my documents I'd printed off the internet, as it was a bank statement and I don't get them delivered by post anymore. Turns out this wasn't acceptable and I've got to get the bank to send me one by post, so I couldn't complete the certification afterall. Typical. This is the kind of thing that frustrates me. I know it's all for security reasons, but sometimes the instructions are just not clear and you end up going round and round in circles before you can actually make any progress. Anyway, the saga continues.

Whilst we were in our local town centre, OH and I went to have a look at the temporary gym that has opened to replace the gym we used to go to. We'd not seen it yet, but I'd heard lots of people at the gym I go to now talking about it. It was quite nice.  My pay as you go membership for this gym has now run out, and it's not worth me renewing it when I'm paying a full monthly membership elsewhere. I may, however, return to the free Saturday morning gym sessions for over 50's, that I used to go to before, just for a change of scenery.

After getting home and having lunch, I did a bit of sewing, finishing an alteration I'd started last week. LB was working for the owners of the pet shop at a market where they run a stall, instead of in the shop, which was a bit different for her. She seemed to enjoy it, but it was an earlier start for her and she was on her feet all day, so she was tired when she got in and then was out later with some friends.

Sunday was a slow day at home. LB was unwell all day. I think she'd caught a bug from OH. I had a bit of a lie in reading a book, then I spent a while researching a new sewing project online, doing some laundry and making some more jam.  I took another 1kg of gooseberries, blackcurrants and blackberries from the freezer, making a little more room in there. It made three jars, which will go into the pantry.

It's been a mixture of illness, frustration and small bits of progress this week. I'm hoping next week will be better. 

Monthly Makes - September 2026

It's been another month of altering things rather than making anything new. I didn't get a lot done, however, as I only started very late in the month after our holiday and having filled in my pension applications.

The first thing I altered was this blue cotton top, that I bought back in June when we were on holiday in Lincolnshire. It was a couple of sizes too big and the shoulders hung off me whenever I tried it on, so I was put off wearing it.

(I cut the ties off it prior to this alteration)

To make it fit better, I took in the shoulder/sleeve seam on both sides and I'm much happier with the new fit. Here's the after:

It probably doesn't look much different, but it fits differently, which is the important thing, as I am more likely to wear it. I may also add some ribbon ties, if I can find some ribbon I like, as I am now regretting cutting off the ties.

The second item that I altered was this linen blend dress that I bought over a year ago, when I weighed quite a bit less, but I have never actually worn it as it was always a little snug around the middle and a bit on the short side for my liking. It is now way too tight and unflattering to wear as a dress, but as I am smaller on my top half than my bottom half, I have altered it to be able to wear it as a top. (The blue vest in this picture, is something that I wear underneath it, as I don't like deep v necks).

To alter it, I cut some fabric off the bottom of the dress and then re-attached the horizontal pleats at the hem to create a bit more interest and a bit more length. I did have to create a french seam by hand to ensure no fraying where I re-attached the bottom, which took a bit of time, but did give it a good finish.  I love the sleeves and the print of this top, so I'm happy to keep it in my wardrobe a bit longer.  The extra bits of fabric are really pretty too, so they may get incorporated into a patchwork project at some point. Here's an after picture:

I also altered this linen dress that I bought in a charity shop for £5. I had worn this once, but felt like I was wearing a tent when I wore it. Not a good look. In fairness, it is a 3xl. I bought it mainly because it was 100% linen. It's rare to find in large sizes and in pristine condition, but it was too oversized in the end as a dress.

I decided to cut it down to a blouse and then used some of the off cut fabric to add pockets to the front for a bit of interest. It's still big, but I'm much more likely to wear it as a top, as it will be less billowy. I'm happy with the outcome.

And finally...

The final alteration was more of a deconstruction than anything else. I bought this Seasalt cotton blend dress from a half price rail at a local charity shop for £6, almost a year ago now, but I've only worn it once, as again it is too big and not as flattering as it could be. However, I do love the fabric print and it was quite a voluminous dress, so after trying and failing to cut the top into a shape that I preferred, I decided to deconstruct the whole garment and use the fabric to make a skirt.

Deconstruction, is as far as I've got with it this month, but I will show you a picture of the new skirt as soon as it has been completed. I did salvage the zip and 3 small buttons from this dress and again any leftover fabric can be used for patchwork.

Not a lot of actual making going on here again, but I did enjoy these alterations and I'm hoping to get my sewing mojo back now the weather is cooling down. I'll keep you posted.

Monthly Clothing Purchases - September 2026

This month, I spent quite a bit more on clothing purchases than I have for a couple of months, mainly because we spent a week away in Cornwall, and as you will probably know, both LB and myself love a good car boot sale and a spot of charity shop thrifting and we did plenty of that on our holiday. Brace yourself for quite a long post.

The first couple of things I bought were from the first car boot sale we went to. I bought this pair of camo print dungarees for £1. It was a bit of a gamble whether they'd fit, as they were one size fits all, but thankfully they did and weren't too tight or unflattering. I have worn them a couple of times since buying them and they are comfortable to wear.

The second item I bought from the same seller for £1 and it was this 100% linen hooded cardigan/jacket. It's very lightweight and is good to throw on in the summer if you need a cover up. I was happy with this, as it's always useful to have something like this to hand. I wore it a couple of times on holiday.

Finally, from the same seller, I bought this zebra print scarf, which also doubles up as a sarong, as I wore it on the beach one day. This cost 50p and I like the print, so a good addition to my scarves/beach wear.

The next item I bought was from a charity shop in Penzance.  I saw this and loved the print and the fact that it was 100% cotton. It was a little pricey at £8 and it's a little short, as it's a playsuit. If I don't end up wearing it as a playsuit, I could always cut it down to a blouse. I like the neck and pouffy sleeves, but I may cut the sleeves to a shorter length, as I've mentioned before I'm not keen on mid length sleeves. This was probably not the wisest purchase of our holiday, but we'll see what happens.

At the second car boot sale we attended, I bought two items. The first was this green pure linen top for £3. I like the sleeves and although the print isn't necessarily something that I'd normally go for, I think it will look nice with dungarees, of which I have several pairs now.

I also bought this Zara skirt/sundress for £3. This was also a gamble. I loved the print of fabric, but it is a smaller size than I usually wear. Because it was sheered/elasticated, I bought it and it does fit thankfully. I'm not sure if it's meant to be a strapless dress or a skirt, but can be worn as either, I wear it as a skirt.

The remainder of clothing purchases on holiday were from charity shops. I bought this 100% linen John Lewis top for £5.25. I may shorten the sleeves a little on this.

From the same shop, I bought this pair of wide leg denim, elasticated waist jeans for £4. They look completely shapeless in this photo, but look much better on and will be fun to wear in the autumn/winter with boots and big sweaters. I have worn them already a couple of times and I really like them.

I forgot to mention that I did also buy two new items of clothing from Sainsburys whilst on holiday. They were both in the sale. The first was this gym top which cost £4.50 and I wore this for the first time the other day. It fits nicely. I'm currently in the process of replacing my sports vests, as my current ones I've had for 15 or more years and are getting a bit scruffy.

The second item was this sleeveless zip up gilet which was reduced to £7.80. It's ideal for throwing on over a long sleeved top/sweater in the autumn/spring and I thought it was a great price. I don't often buy new items of clothing, but these two tempted me at these prices.

In total, I did therefore, spend quite a lot on clothing and accessories on holiday, approximately £38, but I bought some nice items, so I have no regrets. There were some lovely items in the Cornwall charity shops and I could easily have spent more, but I had to rein myself in a little by the end of the week we were there.

I did buy a couple more things from the charity shop this month once back in London.  The first, was a pair of khaki canvas jeans which cost £3. I mainly bought these to wear to the Green Gym, as I didn't really have any suitable trousers in my summer wardrobe to wear.

I also bought this slightly larger camo print cross body bag, which has become my new daily use handbag. It was £3 and is much more roomy than my current bags, which is useful on some occasions. It looked virtually unused.

I then bought three items of clothing at a car boot sale, when OH and I ventured out into East Sussex. The first was this modal gingham skirt for 50p, which I'm intending to wear in autumn/winter with boots and tights. It is a size 12, which is much smaller than my usual size, but it does fit okay, as it is elasticated and quite a generous cut (thank you M&S).

Likewise, this long sleeved animal print tiered dress was also purchased with winter in mind. It will go well with a sleeveless knitted vest, boots and tights. This cost £2.

I also bought a pair of khaki army trousers for £2. I think these are new. I had a pair of these for years and really liked them, but sadly outgrew them, so when I saw these, it was hard to resist, as they're great for gardening in. Sadly, this purchase was a bit of a gamble, as I couldn't try them on and on this occasion it didn't pay off, as they are a little small. I'm going to hang onto them for the moment though and hope I can get into them at some point in the near future.

One last visit to the charity shop for the month ended up with me purchasing this new with tags pair of wide legged joggers, which will be ideal for me to wear on homey days in the winter. These cost £3 and I justified them to myself as all my joggers are now a bit snug. These are a bit on the large side, but that's fine by me.

Whilst I have spent a lot on clothes this month, in total I spent £51.55, I do feel that I have now acquired quite a few go to summer and winter items that are comfortable, fit well and most of which are made from more natural and sustainable fabrics, such as linen and cotton. I'm afraid you'll have to excuse the creases in the linen items, as I only tend to iron them when I get them out of the wardrobe to wear them, otherwise they languish in the ironing basket for weeks and I forget I have them. Hopefully, I'll still fit into all of these by next summer and will get lots of use out of them. A couple of the above items I will probably keep in the wardrobe over winter and increase the number of wears.

I am planning on cutting down my spending on clothing in the coming months, as I have developed a bit of a spending habit over the past year or so and I don't know that I really need to buy anything else. I'm hoping I can stick to it for at least a few months, but time will tell.

Financial Roundup - September 2026

It's been a mixed month this month, what with having holiday spending money to find from the budget, although this wasn't too difficult.  I tried to keep within budget for groceries and other items, but most areas have gone over budget slightly.

After an expensive August, on account of wedding/birthday gifts, September was relatively easy and inexpensive by comparison. I have, however, now started putting my mind to thinking about Xmas shopping and buying the odd small gift here and there, utilising money that I have been setting aside each month since last Xmas. This is the only way that I can afford to buy gifts, when I'm on such a low income and not working, but the budgeting has worked well and I already have enough to cover Xmas gifts this year.

The main financial priority this month, has been applying for a couple of workplace pensions, that I will  reach the age to receive next month. This hasn't been a particularly easy process, but I'm looking forward to the time when they start to be paid out. I don't think I'll receive either of them in October, but hopefully I should receive something by November.

I have also applied for a 60+ Oyster card this month, which will allow me free off peak (i.e. after 9am) travel all over London. It costs £36 initially and then £18 per year thereafter, but it should be very useful to me going forward and will make having days out and about much less expensive, particularly in combination with my new National Trust membership. 

It's definitely been a month of financial applications and paperwork. In all honesty, I have found all the paperwork quite complex and frustrating, but it is necessary and I guess it kind of represents a transition to a different phase of my life.

As a consequence of the above, and the fact that the savings I was using to pay myself each month have now run low, I will have a slightly lower income in October, but thanks to some dividends that came in, this won't be too much lower. I'm sure I'll manage. Once my pensions come through, I'll no longer need to use savings as income, unless I choose to, which will be a good thing.

I cashed in a small private pension in August and I'm going to use this to pay myself a little extra each month from October onwards. It should last until I receive my state pension in 7 years time. It will make a small, but positive difference to my finances going forward. 

Talking of my state pension, I did find a statement that I forgot I had the other day and which projected a slightly higher state pension than I thought I was going to get, which was good news. I'm not going to have a huge income in retirement, but hopefully I'll get by okay.

As October is the month of my 60th Birthday, I'm going to try to cut down on non-essential purchases (particularly clothing) for the month and will probably continue with this until after Xmas. I know this will be quite difficult for me, as I've developed quite a charity shop habit when I do the weekly shop, but I think I have quite enough clothing for the moment. Besides, any money saved can go towards LB's birthday gift in January.

The only things I may invest in over the next few months are a new pair of trainers for the gym  and some new bras, as my current ones are getting a bit scruffy.  I may ask for these as Xmas or birthday gifts. I haven't got any large expenses on the horizon next month, which is a good thing, save for the allotment fees, which will be due and are usually about £35.

Instead of spending money, I'm going to try to focus on tidying up the garden and the allotment, (including painting and putting up the new greenhouse) as the season has almost come to an end, do a wardrobe changeover, so that I feel like I've got lots of different new options of things to wear and maybe do some more clothing alterations on some items I'm not quite happy with, before I put them away until next summer. This will mean that they are ready to go when I get them out again next spring. I may also try to do some dressmaking, but I've said this before and not actually managed to do any, so we'll just have to see how this goes.

Just A Regular Week Here - W/E 27th September 2026

This week got off to a slow start. After a busy day out, I was happy to have a long lie in reading my current book, The Salt Path. I've just got a couple of chapters left to read, but have enjoyed it thus far. I then got up and showered and ready for the day.

It was grocery shopping day as usual and I accordingly I headed out of town to do this. It was quite an expensive week this week, as a couple of expensive things needed replenishing and I also decided to stock up the pantry a little and buy some meat to put in the freezer. I didn't have any vouchers to use this week, but I did receive one in Sainsbury's for next week's shop, namely another £4.50 off a £30 spend, so I'll be doing some of my shopping there.

In the evening, OH and LB were out, so I had a search for something to watch on TV and came across a series called The Chelsea Detective, which was actually quite good and I watched a couple of episodes. When OH came in, we resumed watching a US hospital series called The Pitt, which is pretty good. It's set in an Emergency Room in a Pittsburgh hospital and stars Noah Wyle, who also starred in the series ER years ago along with George Clooney.

Our canine companion returned home late on Monday evening. He was very excited to see his family again, bless him. He'd settled quite well with us.

On Tuesday, my usual Zumba class was running as normal, so that was good. It was quite energetic and I needed it, but it's been a while since I've done the teacher's class, so it came as a bit of a shock to the system.

I was pretty tired in the afternoon and not very motivated. I did a couple of household chores, but not much else. Some days, I'm just happy to do very little with my time. Who says we need to be productive every day?

Wednesday, I was up and out to the Green Gym again. It's a 30 minute walk to the railway station to catch the train. Last week, I walked along the main road, but this week, I took a cross country route which was a bit more pleasant and didn't take any longer.

Today, it was all about planting daffodil and narcissus bulbs. It was quite a sunny day and all the digging to plant them was quite tiring. We then covered them over with extra soil. After lunch, I was given some lettuce seedlings to plant out in some raised beds and we were harvesting sunflower heads for the seeds in order to create bird feeders. I must do the same thing with my sunflowers at home and at the allotment, as I've grown quite a few of them this year. It will save some money on bird seed.

I was shattered by the time I got home and could hardly move for the rest of the day. OH was out cycling in the evening, so I watched another episode of The Chelsea Detective and then we resumed The Pitt when he got in.

On Thursday morning, I was up and out to the gym for a class, which was good. When I got back I was really tired again and took a nap after lunch. I've been waking at around 5am for a few mornings now, so I'm not really getting enough sleep. It takes it's toll later in the day.

OH booked us some accommodation for a weekend away next month to celebrate my 60th birthday. We're heading to to Brighton, which should be fun. He also placed an order for a new wooden greenhouse for the garden. It's to go along one side of the decking, where we have our current greenhouse, but this one is slightly longer and deeper. We're hoping it will help make the decking look a lot tidier. We will have to paint it, but we've got paint left over from the shed and will probably do it the same colour, so that it all co-ordinates. It will keep us occupied over the next few months. I can't wait for it to arrive, as it's the final big thing we need for the garden really. I'll feel like a proper gardener when we have a more substantial greenhouse.

Later in the afternoon, I ventured to the allotment to harvest and water. I watered a fellow plot holder's plot as they were away and had put a request out on the Whats App Chat. I also needed to put the garden waste bins out for collection the next day. I had wanted to harvest the sunflower heads for the seeds, but was disappointed to see that the squirrels had beaten me to every single one, which had had their heads bitten off and taken. I was so annoyed. I've just got 3 in the garden at home now to dry for bird seed. At least the wildlife made good use of it.

On Friday, I had a free day to do as I pleased. The morning was spent doing very little. I started a new book whilst having a lie in, but it was otherwise a very non eventful morning.

In the afternoon, I did a bit of banking online and tried to fill in a bit more of my pension application. I did get an email to say that my first one had been received and had been sent for processing, which is good. It's hard to believe that we are now almost at the end of yet another month. I can hardly believe how quickly this month has passed. 

I managed to finish completing my second small pension application, and took it to the post office to send it off. I just need to wait and see that everything is okay with it. The truth will be in my starting to receive the monthly payments. I've got a real aversion to paperwork at the moment and have been procrastinating for a couple of weeks, so I'm just relieved to finally get them done.

Saturday, I had a lie in again reading a little bit more of my current book. I then decided that I was going to do some sewing, as it had been an age since I'd done any. I had a laundry basket in the sewing room that was full of potential projects that I'd hidden away out of sight. I decided to start with some simple enough alterations just to get me back in the mood for sewing. After a late start, it took me most of the day to complete a couple of alterations. I've posted separately about how I got on with them.

OH went to the allotment in the afternoon and planted out the last of the lettuce seedlings. He also harvested a few bits whilst there.  Our current total weight in produce this year has now gone up to 70 kg, which is a good amount. I don't think it will go up much more from here, as there's only a few tomatoes, beetroot and some lettuce left to harvest, but we've had a good year, so I can't complain.

In the evening, OH decided to treat us to a fish and chip supper. I didn't have fish, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Sunday was super quiet here. A long lie in, a bit of pottering, a bit of gardening. I do love a lazy day at home. We finished the first series of The Pitt tonight. It's definitely worth a watch if you like hospital dramas.