A Clean Up and Travelling North

This week has been another week of two halves.  The first part of the week, I needed to clean the house, as LB has some friends staying later in the week. It's been a good few weeks since I gave it a good clean, so it was starting to look a bit grubby in places.

On Monday, I didn't get any cleaning done, as I was out doing the weekly shop. We didn't need a whole lot this week as OH and I were heading up north to visit family and attend a family wedding. LB came with me and bought lots of stuff for her and her friend, who had quite specific food requirements. I spent less than a normal week, which is always good.

Tuesday morning, I headed to the gym for my Zumba class which was good. When I got home, I had some lunch and then started cleaning the kitchen. It was the worst room that I needed to clean, so I thought I'd start with the worst room first. It took me about 4 hours in total to clean the kitchen. I just took my time and worked my way around from one side to the other, cleaning the cupboard fronts, removing everything from the worktops, cleaning them and then putting everything back. It's always very satisfying when it's done, but I can't say I enjoy it.

I then worked my way through the rest of the house, cleaning the vestibule and downstairs toilet, then up the stairs and into the living rooms and hallway. All surfaces got dusted and the floors vacuumed and mopped. I thinned things out as much as possible as I went, and rehomed things that needed it. There was a lot of dog hair on the sofa from our recent canine visitor, who had gone home to the care of a petsitter. It took ages for me to vacuum it off.

Eventually, once the cleaning was finished for the day, I made us tacos for supper, which we hadn't had in a long time, then washed up before finally calling it a day.

On Wednesday, I was up early as we needed to do a tip run and I still had the bathroom to clean. When I got back from the tip, I got straight on with cleaning the bathroom. It wasn't too bad, but needed to be clean for guests. I then had a shower and got changed and packed ready to head off. It was a bit of a busy morning, but by lunchtime we were ready to go. I was looking forward to getting out of London for the Bank Holiday weekend.

The remainder of the week I'll post separately.

A Year of Early Retirement

This week marks a year since I left my last job. It's been a strange year, getting used to not working and earning any money, but equally it's been a relaxed one, without the stress of work. I haven't had to put up with anyone shouting at me in front of customers, micro managing me, requiring me to do stupid marketing tasks that I hate and generally dumping work onto me so they can take it easy. Seems like a fair swap when I think about it.

I have applied for the odd job, but with no success, and in all honesty, I'm not really interested in going back into the workplace, especially not one in which they don't value older workers and view/treat them as a liability. 

Don't get me wrong, I miss earning money and have had to really curtail my spending in order to get by each month, but this is probably a good thing, as I think when I do have spare money, I spend it on stupid things that I don't really need. Being on a limited budget does focus your mind and help you identify what is actually necessary and important for a happy life.

I've managed okay financially in the last year, which is a good thing, but I've had to be very disciplined and organised in terms of putting money aside every month for Xmas/birthdays, my niece's wedding present in a this week and another niece's 21st the same week.  This has left me with very little cash, over and above what I need for groceries, gym membership, insurance and charitable donations, etc. I've had to very much live within my means, which can be a challenge, but once you get into the swing of it, the desire to spend money does actually dissipate and you realise that much of the spending you once did was actually just habitual or out of boredom.

Going forward, a couple of small pensions should hopefully start to be paid to me in the next couple of months, plus I will be applying for a free 60+ travel card here in London, which should make it cheaper to get out and about. I won't say that I'll never work again, as who can see what the future holds, but if I do manage to get a job or find a way to earn money, I don't want to find myself in the same toxic situations that I found myself in in my last few employments.

If I'm going to continue not to work, I do need to rearrange my finances a little and create a slush fund for expenses, such as occasional one off necessary purchases, dental/optical costs, days out, etc. but this is easy enough to do using some of my savings, so that I don't have to put certain things off or not be able to enjoy doing things with LB or OH when I have the chance. I don't have any more expensive gifts to save for from here on in, so that will free up a bit of cash each month from the end of the year.

I guess, I could be described as having 'retired early' and as such, you are supposed to start spending your savings, that is the whole point of saving up for retirement. None of us know how long we've got and I want to enjoy however much time I do have. I learned early in life, when my mum passed away, two years after taking voluntary redundancy at the age of 57 and was unable to enjoy her retirement and spend her long service payment, that nothing is guaranteed. I intend to enjoy my freedom while I can, even if it just means bumbling about at home, going to the gym and gardening, as it certainly beats being subjected to other peoples rules and toxic behaviour in the workplace.

If circumstances merit me getting a job, I will, of course, try to do so, but if I can manage I will probably continue in the same vein.  One good thing about having this time, is that I am slowly getting around to sorting through lots of old paperwork and destroying that which I no longer need, thus freeing up space in the house. It is also ridding my home of the toxic habits and memories from the past. I enjoyed some jobs I did, whilst they were going well, but sadly by the time I left most of them, my enjoyment of them was deteriorating.

It wasn't really my life plan to retire early, but I seem to have slipped into it, and with AI, heavier and heavier workloads and the corporate push for profit above everything, including staff welfare, I don't regret exiting the workforce a little early. In fact, it does make me realise that I wasn't really very suited to most workplaces, nor good at fitting into and conforming to workplace cultures. I didn't really ever find a job that I continued to enjoy over the long term, as I think the longest I stayed at any job was 5 years. It does make me feel like a bit of a failure in some respects, but I can live with it.  At least I've have quite a bit of variety, both in terms of work and experience in my working life, which is character building stuff.

I'll keep you posted if anything changes in this regard.

A Chill Week - W/E 23rd August 2023

This week got off to a slow start. I was tired on Monday morning, after the Car Boot on Sunday and so had a lie in before getting up and ready. I unpacked a few items of clothing left over from the car boot and put them into a donation bag. I also put all my hangers back in the wardrobe. There was more unpacking to do, but I needed to go out and do the weekly shop, so it had to wait.

LB came with me to do the shopping this week. It was nice to have the company and an extra pair of hands. We went to my usual out of town location. I had a £3 voucher to spend at Tesco and another £4.50 voucher off a £30 spend at Sainsburys this week and used both of these.

LB wanted to visit the charity shop, so, of course, I joined her in there and ended up buying one top for £3 and a set of three small preserve jars for £1, which will come in very useful for jam making. I have lots of very big jars, but few smaller ones, which are a more practical size. I'm not doing any jam making until the weather really cools down though.  Eventually, we got all the shopping done and headed home to chill for the evening.

On Tuesday, I went to Zumba as normal. When I got back, I did a bit of blog reading, as I'd got a bit behind over the past week. I then did some financial reckoning and paid a bill online, as we were now more than half way through the month. OH fixed the handle on the shredder, so it will hopefully keep on being usable for many more months. I also printed off the form to apply for one of my pensions and started filling it out. There's a few bits of information I need to find to complete it and I need to get my signature witnessed, which is a bit annoying, but I realise that it is a security thing.

In the afternoon, I watched the final available episode of Clarkson's farm, which was good, if a little sad. I then watched a couple of documentaries. I was tired and just wanted some down time.

I had a long lie in on Wednesday morning after waking from a deep sleep and feeling groggy. I then got showered and ready for the day. I had a few household tasks to do in the kitchen and some laundry that needed doing and hanging out.

I spent the afternoon, cutting out some paper pattern pieces for some clothing items I'd like to make. At least this takes me a small step closer to actually doing some dressmaking. I also took a look for some potential holiday accommodation for September. We're either going to drive to France or possibly stay in the UK, dependent on the wildfire situation. We'll probably book last minute.

Later, OH and I went to the allotment to harvest and water. The nights are starting to draw in now and I can't wait for the autumn.

On Thursday morning, my Aerobics class was cancelled as the teacher wasn't available. I wasn't too bothered. Sometimes it's good to have a break from routine so that it doesn't get too boring.

I spent most of Thursday dealing with some financial stuff. I'm trying to apply for one of my pensions, but I came across and issue with a question on the form I had to fill out, so I ended up querying this on the website and am waiting for a reply. I also ended up shredding lots of old paperwork connected to a job I held 35 years ago. I still had all my appraisal paperwork and reading through it was interesting, and not in a positive way. It just makes me feel glad that I'm not subjected to all that nonsense any more. Shredding them was the most positive thing I could do with them. Of course, the shredder handle broke again, but in a different place. I can still use it though.

I also rang up about a small private pension that was due to mature and was talked through the process of cashing it in. I'll probably use it to give myself a small income between now and when I hopefully get my state pension. There was lots of excess paperwork in relation to this too, so that all got shredded. You can tell I'm on a mission to get rid of anything no longer relevant.

I did a bit of deadheading and pruning in the garden today. We did have a bit of rain, but again not a big downfall.  Still waiting for that one.

Friday morning, I got up early for a change and took Bruce, the dog we're looking after, out for a long walk, which was nice. It was a bit of a prickly one, as his ball got stuck in brambles and I had to dig it out, scratching myself in the process, then he did a poo amongst some rose bushes and I got caught up trying to pick that up and then the ball went into some thistles. At this point, I put it away. Apart from this we had a nice walk. Several people admired him and someone even asked if I was selling him! I told them he was not mine to sell. (He's a French Bulldog)

When I got back, I did a few household tasks and then a bit of blogging. I'm really liking the cooler weather. Such a relief.  

Saturday was another chill day. I walked Bruce again in the morning and then when I got back, I did a few chores. We didn't really do much at all today, just potter around at home. We did visit the allotment and it was nice to see one of the other plot holders and have a good chat. We'd not seen her for months.

We started watching a series called Ludwig on BBC iPlayer in the evening. It was quite entertaining. A little different from most crime dramas.

On Sunday, I spent the day cleaning. OH and I are heading off next week up to Yorkshire, to visit family and attend a wedding. LB isn't able to go, as she's going to a music festival here in London and is having friends to stay over with her, so I needed to get the bedrooms into a fit state for visitors. This meant a deep clean and a lot of thinning out, to make space and declutter. It took the whole day, but looked a lot better for it. I've still got the downstairs to clean, but that will be a job for the beginning of next week.

A Garden and Allotment Update - August 2026

I thought I'd do another allotment and garden update after the scorching summer we've had. It's been a tough season for growing anything and we've had to do a lot of watering using mainly grey water at home and watering cans at the allotment. Inspite of the heat, the garden and the allotment are doing okay. Here's a few pictures of the allotment:

There's not an awful lot left growing, but there's still lots of tomatoes to ripen, and a few cucumbers growing.There's some beetroot still to harvest, when it gets a bit bigger, lots of lettuce and kale still to harvest and raspberries, but everything else has ground to a halt.

Happily for me, there are now quite a few flowers growing. It's definitely dahlia and sunflower season.

I grew two types of sunflower, yellow and red. Neither are very tall though, but they're beautiful all the same.

At home in the garden, the hanging basket is hanging on:

although parts of it look a little unwieldy.

The verbena bonariensis have just kept flowering and keeping the bees and butterflies happy. I do really like this plant, it's a keeper, especially with the hotter summers we're getting.

I've got some sedum that are starting to flower and there are pelargoniums adding a bit of colour.

There are yet more sunflowers, just starting to flower

and plenty more lettuce for successional sowing. Oh has done a great job with these this year.

Finally, we've got some hazelnuts ripening on the two bushes I have in the garden. I'm hoping to beat the squirrels to them this year, but we'll have to wait and see.

In all, despite the hot weather, the garden is looking okay, with not too many losses, but we're still waiting for a decent downfall of rain. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long.

A Day Out Selling at the Car Boot

This Sunday, was the day that LB and I had decided to spend selling at a Car Boot Sale out of town. We hadn't done a car boot sale for around 15 years or more (since LB was quite young and ran the battery down on the car playing her music on the car CD player, or so she tells me as I can't remember!). As I'd mentioned in a previous post, I was half looking forward to it and half dreading it in equal measure.

We'd both spent the last week or so, sorting out stuff to take and sell. We then packed the car the night before, so we wouldn't make lots of noise in the morning setting off at 7am.

On the day of the car boot sale, we got up at 6 am, had breakfast, packed the last few things into the car and set off. The car boot we decided to sell at, was one that was held on a Park and Ride Car Park and didn't start until 8 am, which was great for us, as we didn't want to get up at a ridiculous hour to get to the alternative boot sale for 5 am.

We set off at 7am as planned, with a packed lunch in a cool bag, bottles of frozen water and a full car. We were given a pretty good pitch with plenty of room and set to work setting up our stuff for sale. A few people came around early, very politely looking at what we were putting out. In fact, we found that everyone we came across was very polite and friendly. Some people did make lower offers, some of which we took, some we didn't.

The footfall was pretty steady for the first few hours and LB did particularly well, as she sold a couple of more expensive items quite early on. She was also selling Pokemon Cards, as she collects them and was selling off ones she no longer wanted. This brought quite a lot of people to our stall to be honest, so I was glad of her being there with me.

My sales were a lot slower and smaller, the most expensive items I sold being priced at £5. I'd gone into it thinking that if I made £50 on the day, I'd be very happy, as I figured I'd be earning money and getting rid of stuff I no longer wanted. Most of my sales came from clothing and a few house bits.

By 12 noon, some stalls were starting to pack away and leave, but we stayed on until 1pm, when there were no more customers, then started to pack up the car. Unfortunately (for OH), we still went home with quite a lot, but we were very happy with how we'd done, as we had exceeded our expectations. I'm afraid I didn't take any photos, as we were so busy setting up, selling and then packing away, that it didn't really occur to me.

We were quite lucky with the weather too, as it was warm, sunny at times, but mostly cloudy, so the heat wasn't too overwhelming. We couldn't have asked for better on the back of a heatwave here in London a few days before.

When we got home, we added up all the cash we'd taken, worked out how much we'd made, minus the entrance fee, which was £13 per car, and which we split between us, making it much more affordable.

So, how did we do? Well, I made £65 (£55 if you deduct the £10 I'd spent on some camping chairs to use on the day). LB did a bit better and made just over £100. We were both really happy with these results, especially as it had been good fun too. 

We probably won't do another one for at least a year, if at all, but it was definitely a good way to make some cash from things we no longer wanted. Also, I only spent 40p at a nearby stall, as we were both so focused on selling, that neither of us took the time to wander round and look at the other stalls.

We then just need to empty the car and unpack everything that was left, but we took a breather before doing that. Some of it can just be donated to the charity shop and some will have to wait for another opportunity to be sold or maybe just be put out on the street for people to take for free.

Have you ever done a car boot sale?

Another Heatwave, A Solar Eclipse, A Canine Visitor And a Car Boot Sale - W/E 16th August 2026

This week got off to a slow start due to being tired after a full day out at the cricket on Sunday. I had a long lie in on Monday morning, before getting up and ready to go out to do the weekly shop.

Before heading out, I needed to do a couple of small jobs. One was to iron a linen dress I'd bought a couple of months before, that was languishing in the ironing basket. I decided that if I wanted to get any wear out of it this summer, I needed to iron it and put it into use. This was my first job. Whilst I had the iron out, I had a small alteration job to do, ironing some patches onto a sweatshirt to cover a stain and keep it in use, so I did this too. I was happy with the results and I finally wore the dress!

I went back to my usual out of town location to shop this week. I was looking forward to using £15 worth of vouchers off my Lidl shop. The shop went okay, but I spent quite a bit, regardless of the vouchers. I also went to the charity shop and bought a few items from there; 3 items of clothing and 4 books. I'll post about the clothing at the end of the month, but here's a picture of the books:

OH can give me the RSPB book and Middlemarch book for Xmas. The books were two for £1.

On Tuesday, I was back at the gym for Zumba. It was the cover teacher again, so the class was good. I had left a cooling towel there a couple of weeks ago, which was annoying and I had ordered a couple more to replace it, as they are super useful in a heatwave, but I found the original one on this visit, which made me very happy. I like it when lost things turn up.

I spent Tuesday afternoon watching a couple of documentaries on Amazon Prime with LB and a couple of episodes of Clarkson's Farm. One documentary was very interesting, it was about land grabs that are currently taking place in some parts of the world to secure food and water supplies. It's quite scary what some countries are doing because they can't produce enough food or water for their populations. It's probably only going to get worse if the weather continues to heat up.

On Wednesday, I didn't need to go anywhere, so I had a super long lie in before getting up. I finished reading Voltaire's Candide and was pleasantly surprised by the ending. I then did some laundry and altered a dress I'd bought at the charity shop this week to a skirt.

In the evening, there was due to be a solar eclipse, so OH, LB and I went over to Hackney Marshes, which is a wide open space near to where we live, armed with a couple of handmade viewing devices, as we didn't have any eclipse glasses. I'd fashioned them after watching a YouTube video, using bits I had found around the house. Here's a picture:

When we got out to watch the eclipse there were lots of people doing the same, most of whom had the proper glasses through which to watch it, but we'd not been able to get hold of any. I tried using the box, which wasn't very clear, but OH got the paper plates working the best. We didn't look directly at the eclipse, as without the special glasses it can damage your eyes. We watched it on the plate:

It was interesting how something so simple worked. The sky didn't go dark, however, but it was fun. Anyway, a woman sat near to us, took pity on us trying to watch it with our backs to the sun and let us borrow their eclipse glasses to have a proper direct look at it, which was really kind of her, so we did get to see it through eclipse glasses too. In any case, it was good to get out for an hour and do something a bit different.

On Thursday, I was back at the gym for Aerobics. When I got home I did a bit of shredding. I'm quite a way through the pile now. Hopefully I'll get it finished by the end of the week. I then just need to take the bags of shredded paper to the tip, along with quite a bit of other stuff currently set aside. We're currently experiencing another heatwave with temperatures in the mid to high 30's, so I didn't venture out much today. 

In the evening, OH and I did need to go to the allotment to water and harvest. Mostly raspberries, tomatoes, lettuce and a few other small bits.

Friday, the whole day was spent sorting out stuff to sell on our stall at the Car Boot Sale on Sunday. I managed to dig out quite a bit more stuff and also found some things in the shed that I'm going to try to sell. There's still a few more things to dig out from under the bed, but I'm almost ready. I also just need to get some change from the bank or Post Office for a float.

Late afternoon, a cycling friend of OH, who lives over the back from us, dropped off his dog, Bruce, as we are looking after him for the next 10 days whilst they are away. He took a bit of time to settle in, the heat didn't help tonight, as it had been another scorching hot day.

I discovered a bird sound app today, that I downloaded to listen out for birds in the garden.  The only bird that it identified tonight was a parakeet. We get lots of them here in London. They are a regular sight. I'm looking forward to using it first thing in the morning when there are more birds singing.

Saturday morning, after a long hot night of really not sleeping well, I had to be up early to walk the dog, as OH was out cycling.  I wasn't  thrilled about this, but once we were out it was quite nice and cool. Definitely the best part of the day and we were back before 9am.

I then did the rest of the big pile of shredding I'd collated. I got to the last 30/40 sheets of paper and part of the handle broke of the hand operated shredder. I managed to limp along and shred the rest. It has done well to do it all one sheet at a time. I'm hoping we can fix the handle and it will continue to get used for a bit longer, but either way, it has done a great job.

The rest of the day was spent doing more prep for the car boot sale. I needed to measure and price some fabrics I'm taking, clean a sun bed I dug out of the shed, delve into other corners of the house and release a few more items I'm not bothered about keeping. It's amazing what you find when you look in every drawer and cupboard, well almost. Between us, we've got quite a lot of stuff to take for our stall. I'm just hoping that we manage to sell some of it. I'm half looking forward to it, half dreading it. I just hope it goes okay.

Later in the evening, LB and I headed to our local Lidl to do a bit of shopping for our packed lunch. The car boot sale we're going to starts at 10am, but we need to be there for 8am. This was preferable to getting to the other car boot for 5am. I don't think we'd have found getting up for that very easy. I'll do a separate post about how the car boot goes.

A Lidl Surprise and a Day Out Watching Cricket at Lords - W/E 9th August 2026

The second part of this week was forecast to get hotter again, unfortunately. Friday morning, OH and I headed to the allotment to water and harvest. There was quite a good harvest of raspberries, lots of tomatoes and I also pulled up more beetroot. Enough to pickle another couple of jars full. I also harvested some grapes from the vine that grows on the fence at the end of our plot.  

When I got back home, I washed and weighed all the produce and put it all away. Our total harvest this season has now gone over 50kg, which is great news. We seem to average about 5kg a week, depending on what we harvest. I'm hoping we might reach 75kg by the end of the season now. I'll keep you posted.  

I also needed to wash up and tidy around the kitchen, which was a bit of a mess, before settling down to a bit more shredding. It's completely ridiculous how much paperwork I've unnecessarily hoarded over the last 10 years. It's also scary to see how much money I spent on my credit cards in the same period. For someone who tries to be frugal, I spent a lot. I'm glad that I no longer have such a spendthrift mentality.  It is good to look back sometimes though. I think a lot of the spending indicated how unhappy I was with myself at the time, so maybe I've made progress in this regard in recent years.

I watched some Clarkson's Farm again in the afternoon. It's becoming a habit these days. Later, on Friday evening, I got some good news from Lidl. I'd won 1000 points, which is worth £10 when converted to a money off voucher, so I'll use that next week, along with another £5 worth of points I already had. It will help with the grocery budget.

On Saturday morning, I got up and decided to do something a little more productive. It was brought about by the fact that I couldn't find anything I wanted to wear. I have a wardrobe full of clothes, but I struggle to find tops to go with trousers and skirts. I must have tried on 5 or 6 tops, none of which I liked on me. A couple got relegated to the car boot pile, as life is just too short and wardrobe space too precious to have things in your wardrobe you don't wear.

I then decided to alter a couple of tops, so that I would wear them.  One was a linen top I bought at the car boot last week for £1, which was too long and needed shortening, the other one I'd altered to a top from a dress a while back, but decided I still wasn't sure about it, so this time I shortened the sleeves to ensure that I'd reach for it more. I also had some straps to sew onto a jumpsuit, so three alteration jobs in total. I'll be posting pictures of these in next month's Monthly Makes post.

After lunch, OH and I cycled over the Olympic Park to the Waitrose at our local mall, to get some bits to make a picnic, as we were heading out to watch The Hundred cricket series the next day and decided to treat ourselves. We stopped off at the Velodrome on the way, as there was a race in progress and some of OH's friends were there watching and competing. We hung out there for a while. I then got a slow puncture and we had to pump up my tyre. We made it to Waitrose and did the shop, but when we got out my tyre was flat again, so we had to walk back to the Velodrome to pump it up again to get us home. I was glad to eventually get back and just chill.

On Sunday, OH and I had tickets to watch The Hundred cricket series at Lords. We caught a train and bus to get there. There was both a womens' and a mens' match between London Spirit, whose home ground is Lords and Birmingham Pheonix. It was a good atmosphere and lots of fun. There's always lots of families enjoying the day. It was strange to think that last year at the same time when we went, the match was rained off. If only. Anyway, our seats were in a shady part of the ground and save for part of the second match, we were sat in shade for the most of the day, which made it a lot more comfortable. We were also able to take a packed lunch into the grounds, although no alcohol, and we sat in one of the gardens eating it between matches which was nice. By the time we got home at 10pm, we were pretty tired, but it was a lovely end to the week.

Heat, Drought and A Trip to IKEA - W/E 9th July 2026 - Part One

The weekly shop on Monday this week was a little different. I had promised LB a trip to IKEA at Lakeside this summer, which is about 20 miles away and today was the day. I wanted to get a couple of small things from IKEA and we could stop there for lunch too. LB wanted to get a haircut in the mall there and I wanted to pay a rare visit to the huge Primark store, just to have a look really. It meant doing the weekly shop somewhere different too, which was no bad thing.

It was another hot day. The hot weather seems never ending at the moment. We are now officially in a drought, in addition to the hosepipe ban, which is not good. Anyway, we headed off and were there by about 11am.

We spent the first two hours in the mall, which, if I'm completely honest, was torture for me. I was desperate to get out of there in the end. I had a good look around Primark, whilst LB was getting a haircut, but I really didn't see much that I liked. I then decided to go to Boots, as my expensive mouthwash was on offer, but got lost in the mall. I had to ask someone for directions and even then it wasn't easy to find. LB was having a similar experience herself.

I'm just not cut out for mall shopping these days. I just couldn't ever again be bothered to trawl shop after shop looking for clothing. Thrift shopping just seems so much easier, i.e clothing hung according to type of garment and by size, makes clothes shopping so much easier, plus you are presented with multiple brands, prices are cheaper (mostly!), you are keeping unwanted things out of landfill and giving money to a charitable cause. It's a no-brainer for me. Yes, sometimes what you come across is random, but I see that as a positive too. To be honest, I get overwhelmed on Vinted too, unless I'm looking for a specific garment from a specific brand.  Just too much choice.

Our next stop was IKEA, lunch first, where I had a lovely Indian Summer Salad, which was very tasty. Rested and fed, we walked around the store, but I only bought a couple of things, one of which was a new bathmat. They sell lovely large deep pile ones, which feel so soft under foot. They are not cheap, but they feel luxurious. We have one already, and I'd wanted to get another one for a while, but I was waiting for them to bring it out in another colour, which they had, so I indulged.

Another reason, we went this far out of town today, was to visit a newly opened charity superstore nearby. We did eventually get there, but sadly I didn't find anything I wanted to try on let alone buy. I guess the shop had probably been picked over, as it had only opened a few days before, so probably not great timing. It was also a little more expensive than the store I usually frequent.

Eventually, I did get around to doing the weekly shop too, having to stick just to Lidl this week. By the time this was done, I was more than ready to go home. It had been a long day.

Tuesday, it was back to normal and my Zumba class at the gym, which was good. I was glad to spend the afternoon at home, not going anywhere. I spent an hour or so shredding financial paperwork, but didn't really make a dent in it. It was interesting, however, to study past purchases on my credit card statements. A bit of a blast from the past. I definitely spent a lot more then than I do currently, that's for sure, mostly online too. I rarely shop online these days.

Later, in the afternoon, I watched a couple of episodes of Clarkson's Farm and then decided to try to make a lentil chilli, using ingredients from our fridge and pantry. I've not made a veggie chilli before just using lentils, beans and vegetables and wanted to try one out. I have to admit it wasn't strictly veggie, as I used some left over chicken stock that was in the freezer. It was more a practice run to see how it would turn out and if we like it, I will make it this way in future (minus the chicken stock), instead of using Quorn mince or beef mince. I'm trying to get comfortable with less meals including meat. OH makes a banging veggie curry and if I can make a good veggie chilli, we're part way there.  Then, I just need to broaden my repetoire a bit more to include a few more veggie dishes to make things a bit more interesting. Baby steps, but progress all the same.

After supper, I sat down to watch this week's episode of the Sewing Bee. We got 5 minutes of light rain today. Without wanting to sound ungrateful, it would be good to get a bit more.

Wednesday, I spent at home. I did some laundry and tidied around a little, changing bedding and towels. In the afternoon, I decided to go through all the clothing I'd put aside for the Car Boot and priced anything I was planning to try to sell for more than £1. (There are a few new items which still have tags insitu). I got the clothing rail out and hung them all, to see how much space would be left for LB and then I packed them all in a large suitcase ready to go. I also pulled out a few more non-clothing items to take and bagged them up.

In the evening, OH went out to the Royal Albert Hall to watch one of the Proms, so it was a quiet evening spent watching Clarkson's farm. I didn't fancy going with him, as it's quite a trek across town. He just cycles there when he goes on his own, but it's too far for me to cycle.

On Thursday, I was back at the gym as normal. It was much cooler today and almost felt like there was a chill in the air. I loved it. It felt like the first normal day for weeks.

In the afternoon, I sat out in the garden for an hour watching a video about permaculture on YouTube, before heading back in. As it was cool out, I decided to boil up some beetroot I'd harvested the previous week, in order to pickle it. Once that was done, I retired to the living room to watch a bit more of Clarkson's Farm. It got a little more interesting for me, when he started becoming interested in regenerative farming.

A pretty uneventful first half of the week, how has your's been?

Monthly Clothing Purchases - July 2026

You wouldn't think that I needed to buy any more clothes, with the amount I've bought recently, but I seem to have an addiction. Most of the clothes bought this month were purchased on our weekend away in Norwich, either from a charity shop or the car boot.

I bought one item at the car boot, namely this cotton waistcoat:

 I liked it and for £3 it was worth buying. It's obviously more for wearing in the autumn/spring.

The few charity shop purchases I made included this M&S cotton gym vest for £2.50 from Emmaus. I was thinking about my current sports vests the other day and the majority I have had for nearly 20 years, which sounds meh, but they don't smell unpleasant. They are, however, all made from synthetic fibres and I'd like more cotton ones. I already have an M&S one which works fine for me, but that isn't cotton either, which is why I purchased this one. Also, is it me, or do you find that most gym tops in the shops are cropped these days? It drives me mad. I certainly won't be showing my midriff at the gym any time soon.

I bought a very simple black racer back vest from Sue Ryder for £1.75 too, as you can't have too many vests in this hot weather. I also bought a couple of items from a Cancer Research Superstore in Norwich, one being a pair of navy hareem pants for £3. They don't look too attractive worn on their own, but I intend to wear them under dresses, as they are very loose and comfortable and I prefer them to leggings. 

The last clothing purchase from our weekend away, was this brand new with tags black dress for £5, also from the Cancer Research Superstore, that I have already cut down to a top. I like how the top part looked on, but not the skirt, which ballooned out and was way too short. It's a thick 77% cotton fabric, so is more suitable for autumn really, possibly with a long sleeved top or blouse underneath, but I do like it. 

Back in London, later in the month, I did make another visit to my favourite out of town charity shop and bought two items of clothing. The first was this linen mix vest type top for £2:

My favourite purchase, however, was this loose, wide legged, black viscose jumpsuit that cost £5. I need to adjust the shoulder straps on this though, as they are a little short and tight.  I will probably just make and attach new ones, as I think this will make it fit better and feel more comfortable on. I really like this item though and I am looking forward to wearing it. It will be great to wear in the hot weather we are still having here in London.

I made one final purchase from the charity shop this month, which wasn't exactly an item of clothing, but was a potential one, in that it was a pattern I bought for £1. I'd been watching this particular pattern on eBay last year, but didn't buy it. It must have been meant for me afterall. I like the pretty pleated high neck feature on this blouse and I will probably make the short sleeved version. I have a similar blouse in my wardrobe  and I really like it, but the sleeves on it are lacy and itchy and it puts me off wearing it. I might be able to alter this using the sleeve pieces from this pattern.

In total then, I spent £23.25 this month, which is an improvement on previous months. I don't have too many vices, but buying second hand clothing is one of them I'm afraid and I don't think I'm going to change anytime soon.

Monthly Makes - July 2026

This month, I've managed to get on with a few projects whilst OH was away and during the heatwave when I've been mainly confined to the house. Buying the vintage Singer sewing machine prompted me to finish the shed quilt I started earlier this year, which is one project crossed off the list. It was made from lots of scrappy strips sewn together on my machine. It certainly isn't needed in this hot weather, but it will be ready for when the weather gets colder. Here's a picture of the finished quilt in the shed, which largely co-ordinates with the cushion cover I made previously:

I also made progress with my small Suffolk puff project and finished making all the puffs that I needed to decorate a cushion cover. Below is a picture of all the puffs sewn in place, onto some velour fabric, ready to make the cushion cover.  I now just need to add a zip and a backing panel. I quite like the effect, as it's quite textural.

I do have another Suffolk puff project in the pipeline. I'm going to make enough to attach to a pretty boring lampshade in the sewing room, to jazz it up a bit. I'm going to use fabric from a dress that didn't suit me, as I really like the print. I'm going to change the curtains and colour scheme in this room to more greens and browns later in the autumn, so it should fit in nicely. I'll post more as I progress with this project.

I also completed a new small patchwork project this month, when I decided to make a pad to sit the new hand crank sewing machine on when I use it. It's incredibly heavy, being made from cast iron and wood and I've already scratched the craft table top when using it and wanted to avoid making it any worse. 

I used up some more denim offcuts and some already made denim hexies, left over from the kitchen chair cushion project, for the top, as it is hard wearing and then used some random fabric scraps made into hexies for the bottom, making it reversible. I also managed to use some foam that was part of one of the old ironing board covers I re-furbished. I'll use the denim side as the top side, as I like it better. It took way longer than I thought it would, but it was satisfying to use up more bits and pieces that I had in my stash and it is a very practical, useful item that will protect any surface I use the machine on. Here's a picture of the finished pad: 

and again with the machine on top:

Finally, I also altered a dress that I bought new from a charity shop for £5 into a top. This was just a case of cutting 6-8 inches off the bottom and re-hemming it to the right length. As a dress, it was very unflattering and way too short for my liking. It kind of widened out from the hips into an exaggerated shape that I didn't like. I did, however, like the top half of it, as it has flattering neckline. It's made of a very thick 70% cotton jersey-type fabric, so it will make a nice sweater type vest for the autumn/winter, which will be good for layering. Nothing too difficult to alter it, I used the hand crank machine again for this project. Here's a before: 

and after

Thankfully, I've been a little bit more productive this month, but I've still got long term projects that I need to finish (i.e. the hexie king sized quilt).  I will probably turn my attention to this once the weather has cooled, as sitting with a large quilt on your knee in a heatwave is not to be recommended. 

Next month, I would like to create a pattern from a favourite pair of trousers that I already own and make several new pairs of them, as they are loose, wide legged, quite flattering and perfect to wear in the summer months. I'll start with one pair in some fabric that's not too precious and take it from there. It will be a good way to use up some fabric in my stash.

Another Hot Week W/E 2nd August 2026

It was the last shop of the month this Monday and it is always a bit of a squeeze, but with a bit of help from OH, I managed to get everything we needed and just be 43p overspent. I had another £4.50 voucher off a £30 spend at Sainsbury's, which saved me some money, and picked up another one for next week too. Some things cost no more buying them from Sainsbury's rather than from Lidl, and some things work out even less expensive, so I'm careful to stick to these things to make up the £30.

I visited the charity shop again, tried lots of things on, didn't like any of them and came out with one sewing pattern for a blouse for £1, which was a bargain.

On Tuesday, I got up after virtually getting no sleep at all. I don't know why, but I tossed and turned all night and certain things popped into my head that had been long forgotten. Very strange. I think we're possibly coming up to a full moon, which can sometimes have a strange effect. I was still awake when OH headed out to go cycling at 5 am. It's horrible not getting any sleep. I really didn't want to get up and go to Zumba, but I managed to drag myself there and felt better for it.

After lunch, I did a bit of financial reckoning for the end of the month and paid my credit card bill online. It's hard to believe we're now heading into August. It's only two months now until I should start to get some pension payments and I need to start the ball rolling on claiming them.

Once I'd finished with the financials, I put away some laundry and then went to bed for a couple of hours to catch up on missed sleep. It was much needed. When I woke up, I then read for a while and later watched the remaining episodes of the new series of Bergerac, before watching this week's Sewing Bee. 

Wednesday, was due to be the hottest day of the week, with temperatures reaching the mid 30's. I didn't need to go anywhere or do anything in particular, so I got up in a leisurely manner, had a shower and dressed in comfy cool clothing. I'm getting used to spending my life indoors during heatwaves, but I can't say I like it too much. I'd love to go out for a walk, but I don't want to end up a sweaty mess. The low 20's are my ideal temperature and I look forward to when the temperatures drop to this level, if they ever do.

I started the day doing a bit of laundry and then decided to try to check a couple of pensions that I have, one of which is due to start paying out later this year when I reach the age of 60.  I had to register on an online portal to check the value of it and find out how to set things in motion. I thought that this would be straightforward enough.  After a few issues with the password I set up, I finally got in, but I couldn't get access to a statement and so instead I had to request a retirement quote, which I'm now awaiting. Not sure how long that will take, but at least I've set the ball rolling. I also checked a couple of small pensions which were doing okay, so at least I now know the balances or am in the process of getting the figures for all of my pensions.

Later, after lunch, I figured that I may as well make the most of being confined to the house due to the heat, by continuing to get my finances in order. To do so, I went through all of my financial paperwork and pulled out anything that could be shredded. I started this process a few months ago, focusing on bank statements, but this time I decided to focus on credit card statements and other redundant paperwork that just needs to go. I now have everything streamlined and a massive pile of shredding to do, which I'll slowly work my way through a bit at a time. It took all afternoon to do this job, but it felt good to get it done, as it's been on my to do list for a good few months. 

In the evening, OH went out cycling with his buddies.  They were staying out overnight, camping in a local forest. Rather him than me, I must admit.

On Thursday, I got up and headed out to my class at the gym, which was good. The teacher told us that she is teaching a couple of new classes for the next few weeks on a Friday morning, to test them out. I'm going to try one this week, which will be body conditioning with weights. I'm hoping I'll enjoy it.

After lunch, I did a bit of shredding of some of the documents I sorted and then I sat in the shade in our garden for a while. I rarely sit out in hot weather, but it was a bit cooler today. We're lucky that our trees provide plenty of shade. I decided to pot on a banana plant, whose pot was broken and I also potted on some sunflowers into a big pot to give them room to grow. That was it for my productivity today I'm afraid, as I then went off for a nap.

Friday wasn't much more productive. I tried out a new class at the gym, which was body conditioning with weights. It was quite good, but I don't know if I'll go back, as I had to pay extra for it and I don't want to spend more, on top of my current monthly gym membership at the moment.

I spent the afternoon watching Clarkson's Farm. I'd not watched it before and although I'm not really a Clarkson fan, it was quite interesting. I'll probably continue to watch all of the 5 seasons that are available.

On Saturday morning, I got up in a leisurely fashion. OH was out cycling and LB was working. I went down to the Post Office to catch the last post for the weekend and then stopped in at the allotment to water and harvest. There was very little to harvest this time, things are slowing down. It's mainly tomatoes, lettuce and raspberries at the moment, although there is still more of a few other things growing.

I had another nap in the afternoon and watched more of Clarkson's Farm, followed by a film I found to watch. OH made us a vegetable curry for supper which was nice.

On Sunday, OH wasn't cycling, so he agreed to come out with me to a Car Boot Sale near Chelmsford, Essex. We went to a different one to the one we'd been to a few months ago. It was on a big field alongside the A12. There were lots of stalls, but not so many buyers. This was significant, as I was doing a reckie for when LB and I do a car boot and it's between this one and one that is held on a Park and Ride car park a short distance away.  On the field there is lots of room to spread out and it's pretty chilled, but the one on the car park seems to have more footfall. The jury is still out.

Anyway, I didn't buy a lot. I bought a couple of camping chairs for LB and I to use for the Car Boot, which I'll probably sell once we've used them. These were both £5 each. I was going to buy some on eBay for £10 each, so it saved me a little money.

I also bought a few items of clothing for me; a pair of loose 100% cotton trousers, a 100% linen top and a sweater, which in total cost £4. I spent another £2.50 on another couple of bits, but that was all. I didn't want to bring home lots of stuff, not when I'm trying to declutter.

After the car boot, OH took me to a pub he knew of for lunch, which was nice, before returning home. It was nice to get out of London for the morning. I didn't do a lot for the rest of the day. Days are incredibly chilled at the moment, which I'm very happy for.  Although it's cooled down a little, it's still quite hot and I'm just not interested in rushing around in the heat.

I hope you had a good week.

A Quiet Week and a Clear Out - W/E 26th July 2026

This week, life has very much got back to normal. It almost felt flat on Monday after the World Cup finished, but I'm over it now.

On Monday, I did my grocery shopping out of town as usual. I spent more than I thought I would, leaving less for the final shop of the month. We'll just have to make do, as I really don't want to go over budget this month. No vouchers again this week, but I did pick one up to use in Sainsbury's next week, which was good.

I did visit the charity shop and tried on a basket full of clothes, but none of them looked very nice on, which is just as well really. I enjoyed the process though. It scratched an itch.

On Tuesday, I was up and off to Zumba again. Our regular teacher was back, so it was a good class. When I got home, it was much cooler, so I decided to make some jam and reduce some of the fruit we've got stored in the freezer, as it is choc full. I didn't make much space, but I did make a large jar of gooseberry and blackcurrant jam. I haven't really got many jam jars free to use. I think I must have recycled some of them by accident. I might have to save up some more before I can make more jam.

I spent the afternoon watching TV, which is unusual for me really. I was feeling a bit tired and there were a few documentaries I wanted to watch about regenerative agriculture. They were on Amazon Prime and are narrated by Woody Harrelson. It is a series of three; Kiss the Ground, Common Ground and Groundswell. The two I watched were interesting. I then watched a documentary about Knepp Castle in West Sussex called Wilding. I had read the book of the same name earlier this year, so it was good to see the successes that the estate's owners had re-wilding their land in a visual medium.

Wednesday, I didn't need to go anywhere, so I had a lovely day at home. I finished the pad I was making for the hand crank Singer machine, put away some laundry, did some household tasks and then dug out some fabrics that I'm going to use to make some clothes next month. It was a quiet day really, but enjoyable.

I headed off to Aerobics as usual on Thursday morning, which was good. I had another quiet afternoon at home. I always seem to feel tired after classes and I spent some of the afternoon, watching TV again, finishing watching the documentaries I'd started on Tuesday. I also watched one called Six Inches of Soil, which was about regenerative farming in the UK. 

I met OH at the allotment in the late afternoon, where he was watering. I picked the last of the blackcurrants and dead headed my dahlias and we came back with a nice bag full of harvested produce, which I then washed and put in the fridge. I then had a little potter in the garden, dead heading the hanging basket and other flowering plants.

On Friday, I had a lie in before eventually getting up, showered and ready for the day. I made an effort getting dressed and put on a nice summery dress that I rarely wear, as I was intending to walk into our local town centre, but it was quite warm and humid today, so I thought better of it, as I didn't really need anything.

Instead, I decided to do a bit more sewing and altered a dress that I'd bought from a charity shop into a top. I also made some new straps for a jumpsuit that I also bought from a charity shop. I just need to stitch them on now.  These were a couple of jobs that I've been meaning to do for a while, so it felt satisfying to get them done and get at least one of the items into circulation in my wardrobe.

The weather is heating up again here in London and was in the high 20's to 30 degrees today. It felt very humid though. I feel for all the people in France, Spain, Sicily, Norway and those in the UK that have been struggling with forest fires. It is tragic. I worry about how much wildlife has been killed, not to mention the people who will have lost their lives, homes and/or livelihoods as a result. It's becoming a very serious problem for the whole of Europe going forward.

I had another lie in on Saturday, followed by a massive wardrobe sort out, which took me all afternoon. I've posted separately about this. In the evening, OH and I finished watching the available series of The Morning Show.  This has been a really good watch and I'm looking forward to the 5th and final series which will be released next year.

On Sunday, OH and I ventured out to the allotment in the morning to water and harvest. It's looking okay, but the soil is starting to look very dust like and fine. We certainly need to add lots of manure/compost and other conditioning treatments over the winter to improve it. We're currently up to about 45kg of produce harvested and are hoping to reach 50kg or more by the end of the growing season. It's actually quite interesting when you start to weigh it all.

After lunch, we both headed to the gym for a workout. When we got back, I found a new modern series of Bergerac on BBC iPlayer, so I binge watched a few episodes of that, which was quite good. Later, after supper, OH and I watched the World Darts Matchplay final which was won by Luke Littler. 

It's been a warm week and we've got another hot week ahead of us, which I aren't looking forward to. I'm over all this hot weather now, I can't wait for some rain. At least I managed to get a few things done this week, which is progress.

An Overdue Clothing Clear Out

This weekend, I decided to do a big clothing clear out. It started innocently enough, with my needing to try on a dress I bought ages ago, to wear at my niece's wedding next month. I've put on weight since I bought it and wanted to make sure it still fitted okay, which it does, thankfully.

Whilst in the wardrobe, I decided to go through and take out anything that wasn't summery. I'd left a few sweater vests in there, as when I changed over to my summer wardrobe, it was April and a bit of a crossover period. I was finding that I was running out of hangers and needed to clear some space. These kinds of items were just not getting worn, due to all the hot weather we're having.

What started as a wardrobe clearout, then turned into a complete out of season storage clearout, which took the whole of the afternoon. The main reason for deciding to do this, was that LB and I have been thinking about doing a car boot sale together at some point this summer. In addition, my out of season clothing storage has got very mixed up in recent months and I wanted to streamline it so that I know exactly what I've got each season, that still fits me and then re-organise the storage of what doesn't fit, but that I still want to keep.

This meant sorting through two very large storage bags, one essentially for winter clothing, the other for stuff that doesn't fit, but I can't bear to part with for whatever reason. Having experienced significant weight loss, followed by subsequent weight gain, I've got quite a lot of things that I bought when at my smallest, but that I really liked and I haven't yet given up all hope of getting back into, although I'm starting to get more realistic in this regard.

As a consequence, I was pretty ruthless and managed to set aside two bags of clothing to sell at a car boot sale, probably 20 to 30 or more items. Most of the items are good quality, so I'm hoping they sell. Some things I knew I'd never get into again, others have had their time and it was time to part ways. It was quite a satisfying process and one that I've been meaning to do for quite a while. A couple of things I'm going to try to alter and another couple I may cut up for fabric. 

There's still a bag full of clothing that doesn't fit me that I'm keeping. Some I'm closer to getting into than others, but for now, I'm prepared to hang onto them and give it another year. If my weight doesn't come down, then more items may be making their way out of the house.

At least now, everything for autumn/winter that currently fits, is easy to get to and I've got lots of items to sell if we do a car boot. I now need to go through the rest of the house and garden and try to find some non-clothing items to declutter and sell. Wish me luck.

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.