OH Returns and Finally Some Cooler Weather - W/E 19th July 2026

At the start of this week, I was looking forward to OH coming home on Tuesday and judging by a call he made to me on Monday, I think he was ready to come home too. It had been an intense 10 days of riding for him and he was shattered.

On Monday, after watering the allotment and the garden, I got showered and ready to go out of town to do the weekly shop. I didn't have any vouchers to use this week and there was quite a lot of things that I needed to buy in readiness for OH coming home, so it was an expensive shop.

I ended up shopping in 7 different shops to get everything at the best price. I probably bought a bit more than I needed to, but there's no chance that it won't all get used and eaten. I did make one very serious mistake when shopping. I picked up some crumpets in the yellow stickered section, thinking they'd last me the week, but when I got them home, I discovered that they were Pizza flavoured. Who in their right mind would mess with something that is already perfect. Sorry, but eating anything pizza flavoured first thing in the morning is a big no no for me.  A definite example of sacrilege, if ever there was one.

I did visit my favourite out of town charity shop this week and spent £7 on two items that will be in the Monthly Clothing Purchase post at the end of the month. One was a black jumpsuit for £5 and the other a linen mix top for £2.

I narrowly missed having a car accident on the way home, which was scary. I'd had to stop in a layby, as my door alarm kept going off. As I pulled out of the layby, a car was pulling into my lane from an outer lane at the same time and it was a near thing. Thank goodness we didn't collide. I've mentioned before how badly people drive when I go out of town. It does put me off a bit, but I just have to have my wits about me.

Tuesday, I got up early and went to the allotment to water. I was happy to see that my dahlias are starting to flower. I've got a designated dahlia patch now, although this part of the plot does need some serious soil conditioning, as it's never been cultivated, since we've had the plot at least.  Here's a picture:

When I got back, I watered the garden. I'm back to collecting shower water and water we collect in a bowl in the kitchen sink, as both our water butts are virtually empty again and there seems to be no signs of rain in the near future.

Once all the watering was done, I headed out to the gym for my Zumba class. We had a stand in teacher today, but her class was really good. I enjoyed it. 

Whilst cycling home from the gym, I noticed that it was quite cloudy and cool for once, so when I got back, I decided to cut the ivy on our front wall, as it was starting to trail onto the pavement. I also swept the front path and step and just generally tidied up. It was nice to actually be able to do something outside for an hour without suffering in the sweltering heat.

I had a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon, which I haven't done in a while, then when I got up I did a few small jobs I'd been putting off, such as making some more air freshener and deodorant, before doing a last bit of tidying around before OH came home in the evening. Unfortunately, his flight was delayed a couple of hours on the runway, so he was later getting back than expected.

On Wednesday, it was a little cooler in the morning due to some cloud. I didn't actually get myself out of bed to enjoy it though, as I decided on a lie in now the watering duties are shared. In all honesty, I had a pretty lazy day. I did start a new Suffolk puff project, which I'll post a photo of when I've made a bit more progress.

In the evening, OH and I went to the allotment. I planted out some sunflowers I'd grown in pots. OH was going to plant out more lettuce, but suddenly got struck down with a bad back, so I had to do the watering and the lettuce will get planted out another day.

When we got back we watched the England vs Argentina game, which was entertaining, but ultimately disappointing.

Thursday, OH's back was feeling a bit better, which is just as well as he had to venture across town to see a client. I was booked into my Aerobics class at 10 am, so headed off there. The class was good and I had a pretty quiet day when I got home. OH and I did venture to the allotment later to water and the lettuce finally got planted out.

On Friday morning, I woke up with the idea in my head to do another small patchwork project. The new hand crank sewing machine that I bought is very heavy, due to the fact that it is made of cast iron and wood, and it has already scratched the crafting table, so I decided to make a pad for it to sit on when I use it, to prevent any further damage. I spent most of the day working on this, which was a little indulgent, but enjoyable all the same.

Saturday, I got up after sleeping quite well for a change. OH was heading to the gym, so I decided to go along with him, instead of going on Sunday. I was glad to get the session done, as I find it hard to motivate myself to go at the moment and I hadn't been for a couple of weeks. It went okay and it was nice to get home knowing that the rest of the weekend was mine to do as I pleased.

I did a bit of pottering in the garden in the afternoon, dead heading and a bit of pruning mainly and then did a little more work on the sewing machine pad, which still isn't finished yet. In the evening, we watched the World Cup Bronze Medal play off match between England and France. What a game.

Sunday, was a little cooler, so I decided to spend some time in the garden washing pots that had been piling up since spring. It didn't take too long and it was nice to get them all clean and tidied away. I'm sure there'll be more, which there already are as I picked up a few larger pots and dishes that a neighbour had put out on their wall to be taken and I now need to clean these.

Our next door neighbour's dog came to stay with us for the afternoon, which was nice. We took him along to the allotment when we went to water and OH took him for a walk, before it was time for him to go home. We then had a BBQ in the garden and after we'd tidied up and I'd done the dishes, we settled down to watch the World Cup Final. A brilliant end to the competition. So happy for Spain to win. I'm not a big football fan, but I got drawn into it in the latter stages and thoroughly enjoyed it. The maturity, professionalism and sportsmanship of the players, especially some of the young players, was inspiring, save for the obvious notorious exceptions. It made for a jubilant end to the week.

Another Heatwave - W/E 12th July 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quilting Update - Going Analogue

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Weekend in Norwich - July 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Cooler Week - W/E 4th July 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monthly Clothing Purchases - June 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monthly Financial Round Up - June 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monthly Makes - June 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Mixed Week - W/E 21st June 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A chill end to a sad beginning to the week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you've had a good week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monthly Clothing Purchases - May 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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