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.

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?