March 2024 Financial Round Up - A Spendy Month

It's been a pretty spendy month this month, despite my thinking that it wouldn't be. I think I've been in a bit of a spendthrift mindset to be honest, but sometimes, if you have the money available to you, it's nice to be able to treat yourself to a few new things, especially if your body and lifestyle is changing for the better.

I have purchased a few things for myself this month that weren't essential, such as some wireless headphones and a kettlebell, both of which I purchased using a staff discount at work. I am very happy with these purchases. The kettlebell and the more recent purchase of some dumb bells, I see as an investment in my future health and fitness. The headphones I use regularly in the gym, when walking the dog and now for the Couch to 5K that I've recently started and they have made a big difference to my enjoyment of these activities. They are much simpler to use than wired earphones too.

I've needed to spend quite a bit of money on LB this month, namely paying towards some new glasses and sunglasses. She needs decent eyewear and it's difficult for her to afford these as a student. I'm hoping they should last her until she finishes her studies and finds a job, if she looks after them.  I've also bought her some clothes for a forthcoming family wedding in May. They haven't been delivered yet, but I'm hoping that out of the things we ordered, at least one item will be a good option for her to wear.

Other things I've purchased this month include some new storage boxes for some of my fabric. They weren't a huge outlay, but they seem to be working well enough so far. I haven't quite finished organising them yet, but once I have, I will post about them.

This month, I decided to buy myself a few new clothes. This was mainly because many of my existing clothes were just getting way too big and did not look good. I have to admit that I also wanted to celebrate my weight loss by buying a few items that actually fitted me well at my new size. This included some new jeans and an outfit for me to wear to a wedding, plus a few other things. Most were bought from charity shops or car boot sales, so haven't really cost a lot of money.

I have also put some stored clothes that didn't fit me for years, back into circulation in my wardrobe this month, so these, combined with what I've bought, should see me okay for the immediate future, but I don't rule out picking up a few more bits, if I see anything I like.

I am hoping that I can be a bit more restrained in April though and can reign in my spending. I need to, because I am now working less hours than I was over Xmas and the first couple of months of this year, and as such I will be earning quite a bit less going forward, although I will be getting a higher hourly rate at work from April, which is good news.

I am still putting money aside each month for birthday/wedding/Xmas presents, so any events that come up during the year should be budgeted for, rather than having to find the money at the time. I'm hoping to continue with this throughout the year.  I've also put some money into savings this month, for the first time in quite a while and I hope to continue with this too on a regular basis.

I have no birthdays or expected expenses coming up in April, save to pay for LB's dental check up and any treatment that she might need following her appointment this month. That's not to say that expenses might not crop up in the coming month. Once we make progress with the garden, I may find that I want to spend some money on some plants to fill in some gaps, but we'll see what happens.

I'm looking forward to a new month, and to accepting the challenge of being a bit more careful with my spending. It's not really very frugal to be in a spendthrift  mindset and I need to make a concerted effort to snap out of it and spend less.

I hope you've had a good month financially in March and have a good month in April.

Feeling a Little Overwhelmed W/E 30th March 2024

The week began with my working again on Sunday afternoon. I had a couple of extra shifts this week in the lead up to Easter. I don't mind this, as the opportunity to earn a little extra is welcome, but there is quite a lot going on at home right now, what with LB coming home for a couple of weeks for her Easter holidays and with the garden renovation, etc.

If I'm honest, I've been feeling a little overwhelmed for a while, by the amount of stuff that we need to do in the next few weeks. I also feel the need to do a bit of a spring clean in the house too, but maybe it's better to wait until the majority of the garden work has been done, as we'll be traipsing in mud and carrying debris through the house for the next couple of weeks at least.

I guess I just need to be realistic with regard to what I can achieve on a daily basis and not stress over it. Baby steps will have to do for the moment. It will all get done eventually.

Work was okay today. Very busy on the job I was doing, so it passed quickly. In the evening, OH and I continued to watch a new series on Netflix called The Three Body Problem. It's a bit weird, but good and very well made.

I woke on Monday after a good night's sleep, which I was grateful for. I had a leisurely morning getting up and pottering, catching up on jobs and my finances, etc. I needed to wait for LB to come home, as I was heading out of town shopping and she wanted to come with me. I made good use of the time, and also got to try out my new hand weights, that I'd bought at the Tip shop. They are quite heavy, but I need to progress to heavier weights, even if I can't do as many reps.

LB came home around midday and soon after we headed out. We had a nice afternoon out shopping, just spending time together and catching up really.

On Tuesday, after not sleeping well, I needed to be up to walk the dog, as OH was cycling. I needed to get out early, as my class at the gym started at 11.15am and it can take up to two hours to walk the dog, now she is older and slower. We made it back by 10.30am, so I had half an hour to catch up on a few chores and then headed out to my class. I went up in weight with my weights today in an attempt to progress. It wasn't too bad.

I was working on Tuesday night. It was reasonably quiet at work, thankfully, although it did seem to pass a little slower as a consequence, but was largely stress free.

On Wednesday morning, I got the chance to have a lie in, as it was OH's turn to walk the dog. After not sleeping well on Monday night, a good night's sleep and a lie in were very welcome. Once up, LB and I started looking for a dress for her for the upcoming family wedding. It will be good to get that done in the window of opportunity that constitutes the Easter holidays, as it is more difficult to collaborate, when she goes back to University.

I then booked myself into the gym for a session, which I enjoyed. With no extra free classes and gym sessions for the next 4 weeks, I'll be going to the gym more often. Now the weather is picking up, I may even attempt to start running. OH has booked me into a free local 5k run in May, so I need to at least give it a go with that in mind. If I don't end up participating in the race, it's no big deal. I'm not sure I'll be ready to participate so soon.

I was working again on Wednesday night. I found out that my pay rate at work is going up by over £1 per hour very soon, which is good news.

On Thursday, I had a day off. I got up slowly and enjoyed pottering around at home. I decided to sort through some stored summer clothing and tried most of the items on to see which things fitted well and which things were now too big and needed to be donated. I'm still finding it hard to part with a few favourite items from when I was bigger and I did keep some of them. I did put aside quite a few to be donated though and there were a few old pairs of jersey leggings and a t-shirt that I ended up cutting up for dish cloths, as they were not suitable to donate.

A few items that straddle seasons were put in the wardrobe. This included some very nice old favourites that I haven't been able to wear for years. I am really looking forward to wearing these again. Some of the very summery items I returned to storage for the time being, until I can safely put away my winter woolies and have more room in the wardrobe. 

Later, in the afternoon, OH and I ventured to Wickes, (DIY store) to check out some fence panels for the garden renovation. OH is going to order them to be delivered, along with some wood, as he is going to build the fence along one side of the garden himself. We still need to dispose of the debris from the old fences, but we couldn't get booked into the Tip until Easter Sunday. I'm looking forward to finally clearing it all out of the garden then.

In the evening, I picked up a book that I'd part read, that had been sat beside my bed for months and finally managed to finish it. This felt very satisfying. I will be donating it, as it wasn't a keeper. I still have another 3 part-read books to finish. Hopefully, I'll get around to finishing them sooner rather than later, as I have a large stash of unread books to work my way through.

On Good Friday, OH was attending a cycling event all day, so I dropped him off in the morning, so that I could keep the car to go to work later. On the way back, I stopped off and walked the dog. It was lovely and quiet early on, as lots of people up and leave London for the weekend, or have a lie in on a Bank Holiday. London at it's best. By the time we got home, people were starting to come out and it was getting much busier.

Later, after lunch, I decided it was a good day to start the Couch to 5K app on my phone. Mainly because I didn't have time to go to the gym as I was working at 4pm and also because of it being a Bank Holiday weekend. I figured I could do a run on Friday, another on Monday and then maybe one on Wednesday if the weather is okay. 

The first run was hard. My legs felt like lead weights. I must look a real sight, but I did it. I'm hoping it gets easier. I figured out a good route to use for these runs though, so that was a good start. I have to say that the app is really good and really coaxes you through it, giving encouragement along the way. The first week is running for 60 seconds, walking for 90 seconds repeatedly, so a nice gentle start. I struggle when the running time increases. I'll just have to see what happens this time around.

When I got back from the run, I had half an hour to recover and then it was time to get a shower and get ready for work. I used the time to do a bit of financial month end stuff, which was another item off the to do list. 

Work on Good Friday was very busy. I was back working on my favourite section, recovering the section at the end of a very busy day. It was tiring, but the time passed very quickly and I enjoyed it. I didn't realise that the shop shut an hour earlier, so that was a nice surprise and I was home a bit earlier.

On Saturday, OH was cycling again, so I took the dog out in the morning. It really felt like a Sunday today. Once OH got back, we all spent the day at home. LB spent the afternoon making a bag from an old favourite pair of jeans that no longer fitted her, using my sewing machine, whilst OH and I took turns to nap on the sofa. I made some homemade dog food, as the dog has been a bit picky lately and always enjoys eating it.

Later, we ended the week with a takeaway for supper, which is a rare treat in our household and I did a bit of work on my hexi star quilt project. I have just 15 more diamonds to make and then I've completed all the blocks. I've also now got to the point where I need more plain navy fabric, so I will need to head out to my favourite fabric shops to find some that matches what I've been using as well as possible. It will make a nice little outing once LB goes back to Uni next week.

I hope you are all enjoying your Easter weekend and send you my best wishes for a very Happy Easter.

Making a Start on the Garden Renovations

On Saturday afternoon last, it was lovely and sunny, so OH and I took the opportunity, to get out into the garden and start work on our planned garden renovations. Here's a recent picture of the garden before we started work:

There is a now a new fence down one side of the garden, put up by our neighbour with OH's help.  As mentioned in a previous post, we need to replace our fences around the other two sides of the garden, as the existing ones were in very poor condition. Before we could do that, OH needed to empty and take down the old shed, as we have plans to replace it. 

It's always surprising how much junk you tend to hang onto when you've got a shed. We had quite a lot, much of which never gets used. 

Once OH had taken everything out, I had a look through the contents, in order to decide what to keep and what to let go of. We had some camping equipment.  Not a lot, just a tent, a camping cooker and a few pans and plastic plates, etc. We decided to keep all of this, as we may use it in the future. I washed it all and packed it away in some boxes, as we're going to store that in OH's office until we get a new shed.

I also sorted through some garden tools and transferred a few useful things into the greenhouse and some others into the little shed, that we are keeping for the time being. It doesn't fit much in, but it should keep some things dry until the new shed is built. Much of the rest was probably going to be taken to the tip or be donated.

OH, meanwhile, proceeded to remove the fence panels. Luckily, all of our adjoining neighbours (there are three of them) on the remaining two sides of the garden, had their own fences in situ, so this made it possible to remove our fence panels before putting up new ones. Whilst he did this, I began cutting up the vegetation that was dislodged by removing the fences. 

There were climbers along the bottom fence, which took a while to chop up. We will be removing these completely, as they are quite invasive and don't fit in with our plans, as they will become difficult to control in the future. They have been lovely to have there and have provided a lovely backdrop over the years, but more recently, they've become a bit of a problem, as they tend to multiply and smother anything they come into contact with.

Here's a photo of the garden with all the fence panels taken down:  

We almost don't even need to put our own fences up, but it will give ourselves and our neighbours much more privacy and provide a more cohesive look.

As you can see from the above photographs, by the time we'd finished there was a lot of debris to remove and take to the tip. OH will be hiring a van to do this, hopefully some time this week. Once that has been done, there will be room to move once again and to progress to the next job, which will involve a lot of pruning to get some of our trees under control. I know it's probably not the best time of year to do this, but it needs to be done. Once it is done, OH can start to rebuild the fences and we can prepare the bottom of the garden for a new shed/garden room.

I'll keep posting as work progresses. It's very exciting, I can't wait to make more progress.

Yorkshire Charity Shopping Haul

As promised in this week's blog post, after visiting family in Yorkshire for a few days last week, here's a charity shop haul from our few days away. The items were bought in several different charity shops over the course of the few days we were there.

The first few items were bought from Age UK. This particular shop had lots of nice things in it. I tried on about 6 different items, but came away with just two items of clothing, a pair of sandals and some new tights. I paid approximately £15 in total.

The first item was this lovely linen mix blouse from George at ASDA. It's a big size, but looks okay.  The embroidery on the sleeves caught my eye and I liked it when I tried it on. It will be good to throw on with a pair of shorts on hot summer days to walk the dog or do some gardening. It cost £2.99.

The next item, I thought was so pretty. It's essentially a high necked, long sleeved, ribbed sweater, but it was the detailing on the sleeves that sold it to me. It has a net frill on each cuff which is so pretty. At £4.99, this was definitely coming home with me.  The high neck was also surprisingly flattering. I may still get some wear out of it this spring, if not, it may be a new favourite next autumn.

One of the first things I saw, when I walked into the shop, was this lovely pair of Clark's navy suede sandals. There were actually two pairs. One pair was a mustard colour, half a size larger and had some marks on the suede top, then there was this pair, which are a size 6. I tried these on first with socks on and they fitted okay and felt really comfortable. They are pretty immaculate. I don't think they've hardly been worn at all. At £5.99, they were an absolute steal. I have a few navy coloured things that I can wear in the summer months and I thought these would work great with them.

Lastly, at Age UK, I picked up this pair of seamed tights from Primark in size Large for 99p. I'm hoping they fit, as I tend to wear their size large these days.

A couple of doors away, is a great British Red Cross shop. They often sell quite a lot of new Zara clothing. I bought a new with tags Zara dress here last year, for a family wedding we went to in June. This visit, they had this lovely, new with tags, Zara dress: 

I thought it was so striking that I had to try it on, despite it being size XS. It didn't actually look that small, as it's quite full, being tiered, so I thought I'd give it a go. I was very pleasantly surprised when it did fit quite well, a little snug on top, but otherwise very comfortable and so cute. It is quite short, but I decided to buy it, as I loved the machine embroidered design and it went well with the navy sandals I'd already bought. 

My legs are more toned since I've been working out on a regular basis, so I can hopefully get away with wearing it. I thought it would be great to wear for another family wedding we're going to later this year. I may have to wear tights with it. This dress cost £20, which is quite a lot for a charity shop, but it is new and was originally £49.99. It is a bit of a gamble, as I may chicken out of wearing it, when it gets nearer the day, we'll see. I really love it though.

I paid one more visit to another charity shop and found this pair of grey gym leggings.  

They too, look as if they've never been worn. They are a bit on the snug side, being a size M, but wearable with a long T-shirt. I'm currently finding that as I'm losing weight, some of my gym leggings (and trousers generally, for that matter) are getting way too baggy and I need to size down. This is more of a future proofing purchase, anticipating possibly more weight loss, but they are also wearable now. They cost £5, which I thought was a very good price and they look good quality too, but the proof will, of course, be in the wearing.

My/Our final charity purchase was made at the Tip Shop, which is run by a local Hospice charity at the local refuse tip. Here I found this great set of cast iron dumbells for £10. 

I thought these were very good value, as they include the dumbell bars and locks and 4 x 2kg cast iron plates. Unfortunately, 4 x 1kg plates that should have been in the set weren't there, which is a big pity, as it would have made them much more versatile, but regardless, these should help me to progress with my strength training, as I try to increase the weights I work with.

In addtion to this set, there was also a set of 4 x 5kg cast iron plates for sale for £20. We thought this was quite a good deal, as to buy these online you have to factor in postage which is expensive due to how heavy they are or alternatively travel to collect them from sellers. They are in very good condition and are the same make as the dumbell set and I made sure that they could be attached to the dumbell bars for use.  

These are mainly for OH to use, so he paid for them, as they are too heavy for me at the moment, but on their own they could be used in some exercises. Unfortunately, they didn't come with a long barbell bar, but if I can find one at some point in the future, then this set could be very useful going forward, for both of us to do more weight work at home. I was really thrilled to buy all of these, as I'd been looking online to buy some in recent weeks and then just stumbled upon them. Serendipity at work, maybe.

So, as far as I was concerned, it was a very successful couple of days in terms of thrift shopping, in spite of spending quite a bit of money. I feel it was very much worth the outlay though, because of the usefulness of the items we/I bought and how much I liked them. I hope you liked this post. What did you like the best from the items I bought?

A Change of Scenery W/E 23rd March 2024

The week started with me getting up early on Sunday morning. I hadn't slept well, and in the end I just got up and had a shower to wake me up. This, and the fact that OH wasn't cycling this week and took the dog out, did mean that I had lots of time to chill on Sunday morning and stitch. 

I was due at work on Sunday afternoon again, my first shift in 6 days. I love having so much time off. I can get on with projects at home and get my exercise in, which suits me perfectly. I worked a 4 hour shift, followed by some staff training afterwards, which we needed to stay for.

LB flew to Northern Ireland for a few days on Monday morning, to stay with a friend from Uni, so we caught up on social media on Sunday before she headed off.

After the Monday morning dog walk, I booked myself into the gym and headed off there. I had a good session and managed to use my headphones to listen to a podcast whilst I trained, which made the cardio part of the workout (not my favourite) much more bearable. Usually, I can't get a signal in the gym, but for some reason I could on this occasion, which I was really happy about.

Later, after lunch, I did some food shopping locally. We had arranged to go away for a few days on Tuesday. OH had booked us some accommodation in Yorkshire, to visit family. I was really looking forward to getting out of London. I still shopped though, so that we had food to come back to on Thursday. (It was all perfectly fine in the fridge whilst we were away and saved me shopping when we got back)

I had booked my usual class at the gym on Tuesday.  I walked the dog first and then went off to the class. LB was expecting a parcel to be delivered, which wasn't that convenient as we were going away later, but luckily it arrived before we set off. It was her new glasses and sunglasses from Specsavers. She'll be excited to get them. They had an offer of two designer frames for the price of one and as LB had seen a couple of frames she really liked, OH and I agreed to split the cost so that she could get both prescription sunglasses and regular glasses.

Once the parcel had arrived, I'd showered and we'd finished packing everything into the car, we set off to Yorkshire. I picked up a prescription at the chemist on the way out and, as always, I had packed a lunch and snacks for the journey.  We were lucky to have a relatively clear run and got there around 5.30pm, which wasn't too bad.

OH had rented us a house in a large village not far from where his parents live. We'd never stayed there before, so it made the trip a bit more interesting. We rarely stay in the same place twice, preferring to try out lots of different accommodation and areas and this property was pet friendly, had good reviews and was reasonably priced. 

We stopped off at OH's parents first and stayed there for a couple of hours chatting before heading to the accommodation.  It was very nice and recently renovated, so it was immaculate. We cooked a quick supper of some pasta I'd taken with us, and then we could relax for the evening.

On Wednesday, we returned to OH's parents, but stopped off at a couple of my favourite charity shops on the way. I bought some very lovely things there, to potentially wear at a wedding in a few weeks time. I'll post separately about my purchases from this trip, as I bought a few different things from various different places.

OH's sister was at his parents' house when we got there, so we got to catch up with her, which was nice and OH was able to do some repairs that his mum needed doing, so it was a sociable and productive day. Later, I went off to visit a couple of my favourite local shops for a couple of hours and then eventually, we left OH's parents and met my sister for supper at a pub not far from where we were staying.  We had a lovely evening catching up. It was good to see her and her husband.  Eventually, we got back to the house and chilled for the rest of the evening. It had been a busy day, but we'd achieved quite a lot.

Thursday, we were heading home. I woke really early as I didn't sleep well. I think I'd drunk too much diet coke the night before and the caffeine kept me awake. Anyway, I had a shower, packed up, cleaned up the kitchen and then I took the dog for a walk around the village and stopped to take a look at the local market. There was a stall selling dog treats, so I bought a few different ones for the dog.

We packed up the car and left soon after, but before heading back to OH's parents for a final visit, I got in my usual Boyes visit. I didn't buy too much this visit, but I did need some makeup that I use regularly, and LB needed me to get her a particular ball of wool to finish a project she had started. I can't return to Yorkshire without visiting this store. It's like a home from home. The area of the town in which it is situated, is a very nostalgic place for me, as both my parents were brought up in the area and we often visited our grandparents' homes there when we were young.

After a final visit to OH's parents, during which OH and his mum took lots of rubbish to the nearby tip, we set off for home, dropping in at the Tip Shop on our way, so I could take a look around. We ended up buying some great items that I was looking to buy anyway, at a good price. Again, I will post about these separately.

The journey home was pretty good too. It was so good to get home and get back to our normal routine. We always enjoy going away, but we love returning home.

On Friday, I booked myself into the gym. I needed to work off all the food I'd eaten whilst we'd been away. It's very hard to stick to my regular routine and calorie allowance when we're constantly visiting people and out and about. I hadn't eaten too badly, but I had gone over my calorie deficit most days.

When I got back from the gym, I had a lunch and then had a few hours to chill and catch up with jobs before I was due to go to work on Friday evening. Work was good. I even got to leave a little early, which was nice.

I wasn't working on Saturday, which was good. I didn't go to the last gym session of the term as I'd gone the day before, but I did walk the dog , as OH was cycling. It was a lovely sunny morning, so I wore my new sunglasses for the first time on the dog walk. We had a lovely long walk.

In the afternoon, OH and I set to work on our garden renovations. Initially, it was just clearing the existing structures and vegetation. OH proceeded to empty and take down the old shed and all of the remaining damaged fence panels. We were able to do this as our neighbours adjoining gardens all have their own fences insitu. Whilst he did that, I spent my time sorting out the shed contents and chopping up vegetation to go into our brown garden waste bins.  

Our local council are starting to charge residents for garden waste collection from the beginning of May, which made it all the more important to try to get on top of the garden before that comes into effect. OH doesn't want to pay a yearly charge, so we'll probably do tip runs when we need to get rid of our garden waste.  We do compost what we can too.

Our work in the garden was interrupted by hail, but we'd virtually finished at this point. It is now looking worse before it gets better, as it is filled with debris that needs to be taken to the tip, but at least we've made the most of probably the best spring day so far this year and got started. I'll show you the progress we made in another post.

In all, Saturday ended up being a very productive day for us and than later we could just relax and enjoy the evening. This week has gone by so quickly, but it's been a varied week and the change of scenery going up to Yorkshire was beneficial.

I hope you've had a good week.

A Varied Week and a Fabric Stash Count - W/E 16th March 2024

This week has been quite a mixed one. It started off with some bad news for LB. There was another incident at her Uni halls, which shook things up. She was away at the time with her work placement, which I am grateful for to be honest. 

The weather was filthy on Sunday, grey and rainy all day and night. Horrible. I'm over all of this rain, although I know we need it to replenish the water table. Despite the rain, OH and our neighbour managed to get a few more fence panels up, which was good.

I was working on Sunday afternoon, so after a leisurely morning sewing and pottering, I headed off to work. It was not as crazy busy as the previous Sunday had been, so passed without incident. I even left a bit early. 

LB, meanwhile, was travelling back from the event she'd been to over the weekend, but unfortunately the minibus got a puncture and they had to call the RAC, who came out to them. Luckily, they were at a service station and not on the motorway, which was something else to be grateful for.

As a consequence, she was home later than expected, so OH and I picked her up from the drop off point and brought her home. It was good to get her home, especially as it sounded like she'd had quite a manic weekend. She needed to rest and get a good night's sleep before heading back to Uni the next day.

On Monday morning, LB packed up and headed back to Uni. I dropped her off at the station and then took the dog to a different place we don't often go to for a walk, which made a change. It was another grey and depressing day. I'm really looking forward to some sunshine now, when we do eventually get any.

Later, I did the weekly shop locally, as I was due to work in the evening. The time flew by and after putting away the shopping and having some lunch, it was time to get ready and go to work.

On Tuesday morning, I'd booked into my usual class. I made sure to book the day after last week's class and got a place easily for once. It felt good to go back. I did appreciate it more for missing the previous week's class. Three sessions in the gym in one week was too much for me, I prefer a bit of diversity in my exercise regime.

After returning from the class and having lunch, I decided to hole myself up in the sewing room and do an audit of my fabric stash, which I posted about earlier in the week.  It was an interesting and enlightening process, when you actually quantify your fabric collection.

On Wednesday, I had a quiet day at home. I just didn't really want to go anywhere. OH took the dog out and dropped in at the allotment to plant some potato seeds and then when he returned, we moved a few things around in the garden to straighten things up after work was done on the fence at the weekend.

I spent the rest of the day working on my Hexi Star patchwork project and then continuing with the fabric count I'd started the day before. This time, I tackled the fullest drawer of fabric. It felt very satisfying to get this one done.  The remainder of my stash is divided between various locations in the sewing room, so it will be a case of working my way around the room, digging out, measuring and documenting every piece. There's no real hurry to complete the count, so I'll just do a bit here and a bit there when I've got some spare time and the inclination, until it's all been accounted for. I'm quite enjoying the process, but spending at most a couple of hours at a time on it is quite enough.

Later, on Wednesday evening, OH and I watched a good film on Netflix called Infinite Storm.

Thursday, was a busy day. When I got up, I needed to I take my 4 weekly body measurements and selfies, as part of documenting my fitness/weightloss journey. My weight loss has once again slowed down this last week, which is disappointing, but I guess that's just part and parcel of the process. I still lost 1/2 lb and my measurements reduced very slightly, but I just have to be patient and consistent and hopefully things will continue to move in the right direction. After having lost 2 and a half stone since last June, I'm down to losing the last 10 or 11 pounds to reach my preferred weight goal and I kind of expect it to be more difficult at this stage and possibly take much longer. I may need to change some of the things that I'm currently doing to get the eventual outcome that I'm hoping for.

After doing the above, I took the dog out for a walk and then after lunch, I booked a gym session and headed off there.

In the evening, OH and I had been invited to an art exhibition opening night, by an artist friend of his, so we headed into town for that, which was quite exciting, as I've never actually been to one before. It was taking place in Soho in Central London, so we got the train and tube to Oxford Circus and had a nice walk around the area on our way to the event.

It was a nice sociable evening meeting and talking to people I didn't know well. After the opening, we retired to the pub for an hour with everyone and then headed off on our own to get something to eat before coming home.

On Friday morning, I came across an interesting course that I fancied studying locally, whilst scrolling Instagram. Sometimes doomscrolling can have positive outcomes. I applied for the course. It starts in April through to July and it's a Level 2 qualification. I won't give details yet, I'll wait and see if I get onto it. It's not too expensive for what it is and I may be able to get help with the cost, or possibly even pay it in installments over 10 months, which might be a good option.

Once I'd eventually got up, I needed to pick up the car from where we'd left it near the train station the night before, so I took the dog for a walk and picked it up en route. Meanwhile, our neighbour had rented another van and he and OH loaded it with all the rubbish and debris from the fence replacement work and took it to the tip. They then put up the rest of the new fence. It was nice to come back to a completed fence, no rubbish cluttering up the decking and and raised beds newly unearthed and ready to sew some salad seeds into. Here's a picture of the progress:

All I needed to do was sweep up the debris left behind on the decking and through the house which was very easy. I then decided to do a bit of pruning and hang out some bird seed. Our next job will be to dismantle the shed and heavily prune the trees on the other side of the garden, so that we can take the old fence panels out and put new fence panels in. Exciting. I can't wait to get stuck in and get it done. We just need some dry weather to be able to get on with it.

After lunch on Friday, I retired to the sewing room and then promptly fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon. I must have needed it.

On Saturday, I headed off to the gym first thing and got in a free session. Next week is the last free session until the end of April. The end of term comes around so quickly. 

OH picked me up from the gym, as we had an errand to run. There was another Zero Waste event today and I had a bunch of stuff that had been clogging up the landing to take and donate.  It felt good to drop this off and clear the space.  There's just one bag left that I need to take to the charity shop and a couple of items I need to drop off at the Little Free Library. With the pile of doom gone, it looks a lot better.

I wasn't working this Saturday and OH was out cycling in the afternoon, so I had the house to myself to potter around in. I spent most of it sewing. The Hexi star quilt is coming along nicely and is currently a joy to work on. I love having a hobby that is so inexpensive to participate in and brings me such pleasure.

Ultimately, it's been a varied week this week, with some progress being made, which makes me happy.

Allotment at the Start of the Growing Season

On Friday morning, I stopped off at the allotment on the dog walk, mainly because the dog wanted to and because I saw that the brown garden waste bins from the site had been emptied that morning and they needed to be put back on site. I did this and then decided to take a few pictures of the plot at the start of this year's growing season, just to document it really.

Here's a couple of pictures:

OH put some potato seeds in this week to get things started.

There were some lovely white bluebells growing around the compost bin.

The strawberry plants had started growing.

and my rosemary bush was looking lovely and healthy.

It's always good to take some photos of it at the beginning of the season when it's bare, all the better to appreciate the difference when the growing season really gets underway.

Starting a Fabric Audit

This week, I decided to embark on an audit of my fabric stash. It was an idea that I got from Karen of JustGetItDoneQuilts on YouTube. She posted a great video the other week, about counting your fabric. It is something that I've never really thought to do, but I figured that it might be useful to know how much yardage I have, as it would allow me to monitor how much I use. It is also useful to keep myself accountable in terms of buying any new fabric, which I try not to do these days, but I do very occasionally succumb to temptation.

I decided to make a start by going through a couple of the drawers where I keep most of my fabric. I started with the drawers that held the least amount, just so that I wouldn't get overwhelmed and give up. 

To aid me in the task, I gathered together a brand new notebook (to write down a description of each fabric and document how much I have of it) and a metal rule (to measure the length/yardage of each fabric). Most of my fabrics are full widths, but where they are not, I calculated the yardage approximately by measuring how many fat or thin quarters they contained. 

The process involved a lot of unfolding and re-folding and the first two drawers did take longer than I intially thought they would. I then moved on to measure some of the fabric that I keep in plastic boxes on the sewing room shelves. These didn't actually take very long, as there weren't too many different fabrics in each box.

At this point I decided to finish for the day. There was still lots of fabric left to measure, mainly in the fullest drawer, but also stored away in other places. 

There are also the fabrics that I currently have out for use in different projects. Karen, herself, doesn't actually include fabric that is currently in use on projects, probably because you're actually using it and until the project is finished, you won't know how much is left over, which does make sense. These leftovers will need to be added into my audit once the projects are finished or once I'm not using any more of them.

By the end of my first session of auditing my stash, the total yardage of the fabric I had counted was over 90 yards, which equates to approximately 82.5  metres.  These figures actually only include full width yardage and not fat quarters and other off cuts, so the actual figure of fabric counted so far is actually much higher than this.  I must admit that I was quite shocked at the amount.  It is quite scary to think how much I have, especially when I haven't yet tackled the fullest drawer. Thankfully, my one time obsession with collecting and buying fabric has abated in recent years, so it shouldn't really increase in the future. I probably have enough here to last me for the rest of my life. I just need to get creative about the projects I choose to use it up.

Here's a picture of some of the entries in my stash book (please excuse my handwriting, it is notoriously bad): 

I think this kind of record could be useful, as I could look through this book when I need a specific yardage or fabric width for a particular project and see what my options are, without having to rummage through all of my fabrics. (I made sure to put the width of each fabric in the book)  I will also know where to go to find the suitable fabric lengths, as I listed them by location. I have left room in each location for more fabrics to be added once projects are finished and I hope that this will allow me to account for everything in the book eventually.

It was quite an illuminating process.  I imagine you could do the same sort of thing with wool stashes or stashes of other crafting materials.  With much more fabric still to count, it's left me wondering what the final total will be. 

I think I may need to seriously think about selling or donating some of it, but I sometimes find it quite hard to motivate myself to do this.

I'll keep you posted as I progress with the audit. Wish me luck.

The Garden Renovation Begins

This year, we're hoping to renovate our garden. It's a small urban garden, the size is typical of many London gardens. Here's a little video of the current state of our garden, (please don't judge us) taken the other day:

It's changed a lot over the years, but as you can see from the video in recent years it has really deteriorated, through neglect, I have to admit. Much of the decking is rotting and needs replacing. OH did replace some outside the back door, but the side return and more beyond immediately outside the back door, still needs replacing.

More particularly, the fences are starting to rot and fall apart. One fence was damaged in a recent storm. This one was our neighbours responsibility, according to the deeds, so he is replacing it and you can see that he has already replaced several panels down the side return.  The others, which are our responsibilty, aren't great, so we're looking to replace them this year.  

In doing so, we will need to take down and remove the old shed, which we've had for nearly 20 years. We bought the shed for our first allotment nearly 20 years ago. It then came home to our garden, when we moved to a different plot 15 years ago and has been here ever since. It's not in the best shape, although I did re-roof it a good few years ago and OH has done repairs to it at different times. There are, however, plants growing through it now, which is weakening the structure and we have plans for this end of the garden, so I'm afraid it's time for it to go.

Here's a few pictures of our current fencing situation:

As you can see from the last photo, OH has removed some grass type panelling that we put up for privacy, revealing the old trellis fence on this side, which is falling apart. This is the side that our neighbour is replacing. The other fences are the ones we are replacing. We're starting with the bare bones structural changes, as these jobs need doing before any vegetation springs into life come the spring.

Once the fences have been replaced, in the long term, we'd like brick paths laid around our raised beds, which OH built and which are definitely staying, as they are a great place to grow salad leaves and pick them daily as we need them. This may take a while to achieve, as we need to find someone to lay them, but that would be the ideal. The bark chippings that we put on the paths don't work, as the dog scatters them as she runs around and some of the local cats use them as a litter tray, which is certainly not ideal. There are virtually none left now anyway.

We'd also like a new large shed at the end of the garden, that stretches the whole width, offering both storage for tools, bikes, etc. and a place where we can sit and read or hang out in. It is going to cost a fair bit and might take a while to materialise, but that is the current plan.

I'll keep you updated as the renovation progresses.  Wish us luck.

A Week of Comings and Goings W/E 9th March 2024

This week started with a long dog walk, one where we didn't have to get back for a delivery and we could just take our time and enjoy a leisurely walk. We were out for about two hours in total. When we got back, after feeding the dog, I made an early lunch, as I was due at work for 1pm.

Work was crazy busy, I think the sunshine had brought many people out shopping and the section I worked was just constantly busy. It did quieten off after a few hours, but it was very challenging for a while. At least the shift passed very quickly, although I was glad to finish and go home to the dog. 

LB had messaged earlier in the day, to say that she was coming home later in the evening, as she was starting a work placement the next day, in East London and it was easier to commute from home. I didn't  object, as it's always lovely to have her home for a few days, but especially so when OH was away.  She got home quite late, but we had a good chat and caught up before heading to bed.

On Monday, I was desperate to go to the gym, as I hadn't done any exercise for nearly a week, save for walking the dog and gardening. I headed out with the dog first and then after lunch, I headed straight to the gym. The weekly shop could wait as far as I was concerned. Gym time was a priority. I had a good session in the gym, but I felt a bit tired and out of shape if I'm honest, as it was probably 10 days since I'd done a gym session. I felt a lot better for it though.

Later, I did the weekly shop at our local Lidl and saved over £8 using the 10% off voucher I'd earned last month.

As I was unloading the car, LB returned from her work placement and it was nice to find out how it had gone. She'd treated herself to a bath bomb from Lush for a soak in the bath later, as she doesn't have a bath at Uni. One of the perks of coming home.

For once, on Tuesday, I couldn't get into my usual class. It has been oversubscribed for weeks now and I often find myself on the waiting list, but I usually manage to catch a cancellation, not this week though. In all honesty, I wasn't too bothered, as I'd done cardio and weights at the gym the day before. plus I had stuff to do before OH came back. Sometimes taking an enforced break can be good, as you appreciate it more when you return.

As a consequence, I could take my time getting up and ready and out with the dog. I took the dog in the car to a favourite spot that is just a little far for her to walk to these days and we had a nice walk..

When I got back, I had lunch and then decided to head up to the sewing room and start a new small scrappy project. It was something that will be useful.

OH returned from Sicily later, he brought me a present:

Perfect for my daily salads and with such a summery design. He usually brings me food or alcohol, but due to my sticking to a calorie deficit, he bought me this instead, which is very thoughtful. I love it.

On Wednesday, I headed back to the gym. I had another good session, despite the gym being busier than I'd ever seen it before.

I picked up my new prescription sunglasses after lunch and did a small top up shop. I'm very happy with them. The transparent frames actually go quite well with my greying hair. I'm looking forward to wearing them when we get some sunshine.

Later, I did some sewing. I needed to hem some jeans for LB and then I finished making this pouch. I treated myself to a pair of Bluetooth headphones when I got paid this month, using the staff double discount, so I got a good reduction on them. They weren't very expensive, but they are very useful for walking the dog and for the multiple walks to and from the gym each week, when I like to listen to podcasts or YouTube videos. LB got me connected, as I don't have a clue. I'm such a tech dinosaur.

I wanted to make a pouch for them when travelling or taking them out in my handbag, so they don't get scratched or damaged. I based this on a pouch I made for some sewing shears many years ago. It's a very basic envelope design and it works well for this purpose. I lined it in a soft varuna wool type fabric from my stash.

On Thursday, I was home alone again. LB headed off to the Midlands for a few nights, with colleagues from the artist studio she's been working at for her work placement, to help out at an event and OH headed into the City to attend a workshop all day. 

I took the dog out, had lunch at home and then took myself out to finish off the weekly shop. I needed to head out to Home Bargains, which is out of town, to stock up on quite a few items we were running low on. I always enjoy myself when I go shopping out of town and I managed to stock up on lots of things that we needed, that tend to be more expensive locally.

On Friday, OH and I needed to do a job in the garden, in readiness for the neighbour putting up the rest of his fence. It involved drastically cutting back a bush. It was a difficult one for me, as it is a beautiful bush when it flowers and there's no guarantee that it will grow back well, but we had to do it and then bag up the debris. It took the whole morning. 

After lunch, I headed out to the gym for my 3rd session of the week. I felt quite tired in this session. I may have overdone things slightly this week, making up for the dearth of exercise last week, but it was good to get it done.

Saturday, I was due to return to work in the evening, after 5 nights off. I couldn't make it to my usual free gym session in the morning, as OH was cycling most of the day and I needed to take the dog out, hence why I went on Friday. The dog and I had a nice walk and then I spent most of the afternoon sewing, which was nice and relaxing, before eventually getting ready to go into work. Work was good, busy but good, a positive end to the week.

It's not been a particularly productive week this week, but I've enjoyed getting back to the gym and having LB home for a while. There's always next week.

Quilting Progress - March 2024

I thought I would do a quick post, to bring you up to scratch on the progress I've made on the Hexi Star quilt that I've been working on for probably the last 4 months. I think I last posted about this quilt in November last year, when I'd completed 2 or 3 of the star blocks. I've now completed 10 large star blocks for this quilt.

I changed tack a little on the second five, as I decided to use fabrics of another colour in these blocks, namely green, so the main colours for the quilt are now navy, red and dark green. The reason for this, is that I had quite a few different fabrics in this colourway, that were similar to the fabrics I had used in a red colourway, so I thought they would possibly go well together and it would add a bit of extra interest to the quilt and help use up more fabrics from my stash.

I recently laid all of the star blocks out together, to see how they blended. Here's a photo of what they looked like when I did:

It's a pretty random quilt, but I quite like that about it, no two blocks are the same. You will see that two blocks have been outlined with a row of navy hexagons.  All of the stars and other blocks in this quilt will also be outlined in this way and this should help bring together all the different colours and shapes of blocks when all are sewn together and make the actual blocks stand out. You can just about see from the second photo how the blocks will fit together. I'm actually reasonably happy with how well they go together. I think because the navy is used with both colourways, that it helps with continuity. This probably isn't the final layout, I'll play around with it when all the blocks are completed.

Now that all the hexi star blocks are done, I have moved on to another part of the process of making this quilt and that is to make some smaller blocks in the shape of diamonds, using the same fabrics in different combinations. These diamonds will fill the space between the points of the star blocks and I think I will need to make between 40 and 50 to complete the quilt. I have started to make a few of these blocks already to show you what they look like. These are really enjoyable to work on, as they are much smaller and quicker to make, only using 9 hexies. Here's a picture of the ones I've completed thus far:

I will also need to source some more plain navy fabric to fill in between the star and diamond blocks in order to complete this project, as I don't currently have enough, so this will, of course, involve a trip to one of my favourite places to buy fabric. It is a particular London high street where there are lots of different fabric shops, so I'll very much look forward to that. I don't really want to buy more fabric, but I have virtually no plain fabrics in my stash and they are necessary to make the kind of quilts I like to make. I will try to use up any fabric I do buy in this project if I can. This will actually be the only thing that I have actually had to buy to make this quilt, which feels good, as it means I am gradually finding a use for the fabric that I already have at home.  This is what I love most about EPP patchwork projects, they are great for stash busting.

I'll keep you posted as the project progresses and the different blocks get sewn together. 

A Few Favourites

I haven't done a favourites post for a long time, partly because I use the same products over and over, but recently, I've come across a few new to me products that are worth a mention here.

The first couple of things are products to uplift my daily salads. I'm always looking for ways to make my daily salads a bit more interesting and last month I did a bit of research into finding a mango salad dressing. I was inspired by the Chicken and Mango salads that I used to buy from Lidl on days when I was out shopping. The mango salad dressing gave a lovely sweet flavour to the salad and I really enjoyed this treat.

However, these pre-packed salads have got quite a bit more expensive in the last couple of years, so I rarely indulge anymore. As a consequence, I went on a quest to find a salad dressing to recreate the experience at home. There weren't too many out there, but I did find this one by Mary Berry, which is sold in Waitrose. It's not cheap at £3.80 per bottle, but it tastes nice and once opened lasts a month. I've been using this for the last week or so and quite enjoying it, as a change from just using balsamic vinegar. The calories aren't too high either, which is a plus. I probably won't buy it that often though on account of the cost.

Similarly, I came across these Sweety Drop Peppers in Sainsburys the other week. I've been keeping an eye out for these since we visited Lanzarote last year. I had a lovely salad in one of the restaurants there and it was sprinkled with tiny yellow peppers like these, so when I saw these I thought I'd give them a go. Again, they are not particularly frugal at £2.80 per jar, not something I will buy every week. They're not quite as nice as the yellow ones, but do add a bit of interest to my salad, so were definitely worth a try.

In terms of beauty products, I tend to use the same products regularly and just replace them when I run out, but recently, I decided to try this collagen face cream from Home Bargains. 

It's from the Dead Sea Collection range and I've found it to be a really good face cream. Not too greasy, makeup applies easily on top, and it doesn't break me out, so I'm probably going to re-purchase this very soon. If it had SPF too, it would be perfect. I think it only cost something like £2.99 or maybe even less. I have used the hylauronic acid serum in this range too, which was equally inexpensive and it was okay, but I've moved away from using serums recently and gravitated towards a face cream. I know that you can get a gift set of three products in the range for £4.99 in store, which is an amazing price.

I have also been love, love, loving this Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Daily Skin Therapy lately. I began using their handcream in the same scent, but I haven't been able to find it recently and could only get hold of these larger bottles of daily skin therapy. They work just as well as a handcream though and you get much more for your money. What I love so much about it, is that it smells just like chocolate and I love just breathing it in everytime I use it. It's almost as good as eating chocolate. This is going to be my go to handcream from now on, for definite. I think this bottle cost £3.29 or something similar from B&M. It's a keeper.

Finally, another current favourite of mine is this book by John Lane called Timeless Simplicity - Creative Living in a Consumer Society. I put this book on my Amazon wishlist years ago, but never actually got around to buying it and then Vivi from What Vivi Did Next on YouTube reviewed it in a video the other week and it spurred me on to buy it there and then from eBay. It only cost £4, but it's a subject I love to read about and Vivi's review was so positive, that I just had to buy it and read it.

Having already picked it up and started to read the introductory chapters, I know it is going to be something I'm going to love. It was published between 2001-2004, but it is still completely, if not more relevant now. It's a thin book, but with quite small print, just to warn anyone who might want to buy it, but this does not detract from it in any way.

Have you stumbled upon any new favourites lately?

A Busy Week - W/E 2nd March 2024

This week started off a little busier. I was working on Sunday afternoon from 1pm, so I had to get up and walk the dog, then have an early lunch before heading into work. It was a tough shift, partly because I'd not been there for 5 days and felt a bit rusty and partly because the department I was working in was quite messy and I struggled to get it finished on time. I came home feeling quite frazzled.

I then spent the evening watching TV and sewing my star patchwork.  We watched the final episode of Expats on Prime, which has been an interesting series and then we watched a movie on Netflix starring Julia Roberts called Leave The World Behind, which was really good.

I slept well, which I haven't been doing lately, so that was good. My weight finally dropped a little the next morning, after a 10 day plateau, which I was very grateful for.

Monday, as always, is weekly shop day. I headed out of town this week, even though I was working in the evening. I needed to pick up some medication I'd ordered from the pharmacy en route. I took some lunch with me, as I always get hungry and it stops me spending extra money on convenience food while I'm out. I did the main part of the shop at Lidl as usual, and have now spent enough this month to qualify for a 10% off voucher on next week's shop.

I couldn't help myself and decided to visit my new favourite charity shop. I found some really lovely and useful things this visit, so I've made a separate post about them. I really enjoyed myself.

Anyway, I then had to head home, as I was due at work for 5pm and needed a shower. Work was okay. I was on a calmer job this shift. 

A parcel came for me today, which was exciting, containing something that I'd ordered for another scrappy project. I can't wait to give it a go. I'll make a post about it once I've made progress with it.

On Tuesday, I was booked into my usual class at the gym. After l'd had lunch, I decided to go into the garden and do a bit of clearing up. It's in a big mess at the moment, as our neighbours are replacing the fence on one side and OH has removed our grass type panels from the fence and removed any vegetation growing up them and this was left in piles in the borders.  

I raked it all off and put it in bags ready to take to the tip and then cleared another fence panel down at the end of the garden, of a climber growing up it, so that it's now clear and can easily be removed and replaced. I enjoyed being out there with the dog and just tidying things up. It's still a total mess, with lots more work to do, but at least I made a start and it was good exercise too.

On Wednesday, I decided to head out into the garden again. This time to wash all of the dirty pots that were kicking around. I don't always get around to this in the autumn, so it was long overdue and it was good to get it done before the new growing season starts. It took a couple of hours, but led to me tidying up the greenhouse and things now look a lot better outside the back door.

Later on Wednesday, I was heading out to meet some friends. We used to go to gym classes together for years, but now we're all doing different things, so we meet up every few months and keep in touch, which we enjoy. It was good to catch up with everyone's news and I had a lovely Persian lamb dish which I really enjoyed.

OH headed off out of the country on Thursday for a few days with some cycling friends, for a cycling holiday in Sicily. I could have gone over and met him, but I didn't have my new passport in time. However, I did get notification that my passport would be delivered on Friday, which is just over a week since I applied for it. I was very impressed with the speed of the service and they email you at every point in the application, i.e. when the application has been received, your old passport has been received, your application has been approved, your passport printed and then with expected delivery.

I was working on Thursday night, but managed to get quite a few jobs done during the day before I went. I wrote myself a long list of things I wanted to do whilst OH was away and I'm slowly ticking them off the list. Work was OK, but I was glad to get back home to the dog.

I was out as early as I could with the dog on Friday, as I was expecting the delivery of my passport between 11 am and 3pm. We had to have a short walk so that I could get back in time. It rained intermittently, so finding a break in the rain to go out in took a while.

Whilst waiting for my passport to be delivered, I did some blogging, made some more small egg muffins. I really love these and ended up eating three as soon as they were ready. They are so moreish. I called it part of my lunch.

After lunch, I decided to do a bit of patchwork sewing. I couldn't really get started on anything else, as I wanted to head straight to the gym once my passport had been delivered. Annoyingly, it wasn't delivered, so I had a bit of a wasted afternoon, which was very frustrating. I made progress on my patchwork, but not much else. I hate waiting for deliveries, but sometimes it is unavoidable.

On Saturday, I got a message to say my passport was being delivered between 10.40am and 2.40pm, so I got straight out of bed, did some weights (because I was missing the gym again this morning) and got ready to take the dog out before my delivery came. It then started to rain, of course, so I had breakfast until it stopped and the sun came out (momentarily) and then we headed out. I needed to be back for 10.15am at the latest, as with hindsight, I think I missed the delivery the day before because they came 10 minutes early. (I saw the postman's van as I was returning from the dog walk, albeit on another street).

We got home about 10.15am and I decided to make more use of waiting in for my passport, by getting on with another job on my to do list. This was to declutter the baking drawer. I'm not really a baker. I very rarely bake anything, so many of the ingredients in this drawer were out of date by 18 months or even 4 years in some cases. I decided to get ruthless and threw most of it out. I will replace vanilla extract, baking powder and buy a small bag of self raising flour, but that's it. I will just have to buy anything I need if I do decide to make something.

It's not perfect or particularly aesthetically pleasing, but it looks a lot better. For someone who doesn't bake, it's a very full drawer, but some things do get used for other purposes, such as preserving, etc. Here's a picture:

I then decided to clean out the drawers above, namely the crockery drawer and cutlery drawer and then followed this with cleaning all the cupboard and drawer fronts, which desperately needed it. It felt satisfying to do this.  Not a total deep clean, but a good start in the time that I had available.

My passport finally arrived around 1pm whilst I was eating lunch. YAY!!!  I only had a couple of hours free after lunch, as I was due at work and needed a shower, so I sat at the kitchen table and did a bit more work on my star quilt.

Work on Saturday night was busy, but more enjoyable than it had been earlier in the week. I bought a few things at work today, as our staff discount was doubled this weekend, so I made the most of it. I bought three bowls for the kitchen, a coconut wax candle, some coffee beans for OH's birthday in a couple of months and a 10kg kettle bell for me in the hope that I will progress to working with this size eventually. It's a big enough weight for OH to use occasionally too.

It was nice to get home to the dog. I'd pre-made some chilli to eat for supper and just heated it up when I got in. It's been cold the last couple of nights, so I was very happy to get wrapped up and jump into bed later.

So, here ends a busy week, with quite a lot of things going on aside from work. When OH is away, I find I have a lot more things to do with regard to caring for the dog. The exercise I get walking her every day is good though and she's lovely company when I'm home alone.

A February Charity Shop Haul

I couldn't resist a visit to my new favourite charity shop this week when I did the weekly shop and I'm so glad I did, as I found some really nice items. I thought I'd do a small haul of what I bought, as I love to see a charity shop haul myself.

I spent £22, which included a 50p donation to the cause. Here's what I got for my money:

OK, so this first purchase was a big fail, but hear me out. It was a pair of black PU paperbag style trousers in a size 14. I tried them on and really liked the fit and style. It felt great to comfortably get into a size 14 too. I figured they might be great for work or even going out. After previous experience of PU disintegrating when I've worn it, it was a bit of a gamble, but at £3, it was worth taking the risk. 

I decided to wear them out first to a meet up with friends this last week. Sadly, the same thing happened. The PU just started disintegrating again around the inside leg/crotch area. By the time I got home they were a mess. Luckily I wore a super long sweater with them, so no-one could see. A big disappointment, as I really loved these. Maybe PU is not the way forward for me. They are now fit for nothing but the bin.

Hopefully, this next pair of trousers will fare better. They are from M&S and are a cotton/linen mix. I'm not sure if they've been worn at all as they are in really good condition and the pockets were still sewn up, although I know this isn't really always indicative. They are a size 16 and a little on the large side as M&S tend to be quite generously sized, but I'm hoping to wear them this summer. I may look a little like Rupert bear in them though, but I don't care, I love a bit of plaid. These cost £3 too.

I found this top hung on the rail in the changing room. It was size Medium, and if I'm honest it is a tad snug, but I'm hoping it won't always be. It's quite sheer, so will need to be worn with a vest or other layer underneath, but I loved the pretty sheared neckline and cuffs. So flattering. Also, I liked the button down back. A bargain for £3.

I also bought a brand new pair of H&M Conscious 3/4 black leggings in size Medium. It feels great to get into these sizes as I've been wearing XL for so long. These are always great under skirts and dresses in the summer if I don't want to go bare legged, so was a no-brainer at £3.

Finally, in terms of apparel and footwear, I bought these pretty gold wedge sandals for £4. They are in very good condition and I bought them with a view to wearing them for a wedding later this year. They've got a good sized heel, but the wedge makes them very comfortable.

In addition to the clothing, I also bought a couple of books. They are priced at two books for £1 in this shop. The first I bought was actually one physical book and two audio books by Alan Titchmarsh.

It is still sealed in it's packaging, so an absolute steal at 50p for 3 books, even if I only listen to the CD's in the car. The second book I bought was this biography of Joni Mitchell, which will be a gift for OH's birthday, as he loves her music. It is in great condition and I couldn't resist it. I might read it myself when he's finished with it.

The final few things I bought were a bit random. This shop has a few baskets of what look like Amazon returns. In there, I found these two packets of coloured tissue paper for £1 each. There are 25 sheets in each pack, which I thought was good value. They will definitely get used, as I often wrap gifts in tissue paper for birthdays and Xmas.

I also found this pack of cotton fabric squares for £1. There are 100 6" squares in this pack in lots of different designs. I don't really need any more fabric and I rarely buy any these days, as I'm focussed on using up my stash, but I couldn't resist this. It equates to a metre and a half of fabric or something like that. In view of my love of scrappy projects at the moment, this will add a bit of interest to my scrap collection and I have a new project on the horizon that it will be perfect for. It was not something that I could easily walk away from.

Finally, I bought a new phone holder for if/when I start running, for £1.

and I also took a punt on this lovely pleated lampshade reduced to £1.50. It is in such good condition, but unfortunately it is a tad small for the lamp I had in mind. I am keeping it though as it might yet find a lamp base to call home.

So, that's what £22 bought me, which I think is quite a significant amount. I was very happy with this haul and can't wait to put everything to use. I hope you've enjoyed this post and have found some bargains lately.