A Canine Visitor, Form Filling, An Early Birthday Present and a Day Out - W/E 20th September 2026

On Thursday this week, I did my first class at the gym for a couple of weeks. It felt good to get back to it, but tiring too. I'm not feeling that fit at the moment. When I got home, I ended up having a nap for an hour in the afternoon. I just needed it. I then forced myself to complete the application forms for one of my pensions. I should have done it before we went on holiday, but what with the wedding and getting ready to go away again, I couldn't get my head around it.

I had to dig out some old documents to be able to answer some of the questions and then peruse my tax records online to answer others, so it wasn't a quick job. I think I got it completed correctly. I just hope they don't send it back for any reason and that they start paying it as near to my 60th birthday as possible. I've now got another pension application to complete, so I need to do that one in the next couple of days.

On Thursday evening, we got a canine visitor for a few days. Our neighbours were going away for a long weekend and couldn't take their dog, so we agreed to have him over the weekend. He's a sweetie and no trouble at all.

Friday, was thankfully a day where I didn't need to do anything much or go anywhere. I did need to post a couple of bits of mail, one being a pension application that I'd finally completed. I had a leisurely morning getting a shower and working on a second pension application, which isn't quite finished yet. LB headed off for a weekend away in Manchester today, to celebrate a friend's birthday. I'm sure she'll have a great time.

I myself got a lovely surprise when the postman came, as I received a membership for the National Trust. I was a bit perplexed, as I hadn't bought one. Turns out it was an early 60th birthday present from my sister. I was very excited to receive it and instantly messaged my thanks. (She's away on holiday around my actual birthday, hence why it was early). Turns out OH knew about it, as she'd messaged him for ideas for a gift. This was perfect and I can't wait to start using it, especially as I get my free 60+ London travel card when I reach 60 and I can travel around to National Trust places that aren't too far away using this. I've already earmarked a few I want to visit.

Later, after lunch, I walked into our local town centre to get a few bits of shopping and also drop into the Post Office. I ended up spending £35 on postage, some food bits and some probiotics from the health food shop. I hadn't bought any for a while and they were on offer, so I bought 6 months supply, which took care of half of the expenditure. Hopefully my gut will thank me.

When I got back, I took the dog around the block and over to the allotment to harvest and water a little. We hadn't been all week and there were lots of tomatoes, some of which were splitting. Most things are slowing down in terms of producing food, although there's still lots of lettuce growing.

In the evening, I managed to catch up on blog reading and commenting. I was seriously behind due to the wedding/holiday, etc. It felt good to catch up with what everyone's been doing over the last month or so.

On Saturday morning, OH was out cycling, so it fell to me to walk the dog. I got up early and took him for a long hour and half walk across various green spaces in our area. I don't get to go to these so often now, so I quite enjoyed it. I was surprised how many people were out and about, mostly on bikes or with dogs. Saturday mornings are usually pretty quiet.

I tackled the ironing basket in the afternoon, mainly because I needed clean towels and none were ironed.  I found a few items of clothing in there that hadn't seen the light of day for a while. There's still a big pile of towels left to iron, but I've got a good few to keep us going a while.

Sunday, we had planned a big day out. OH was cycling in a race over in East Sussex, so we made a day of it and stopped off at a car boot for me on the way. It wasn't the best car boot that I've been to, but I did find quite a few terracotta pots for the garden at good prices. It's coming up to bulb planting season and these come very useful for this purpose.  I also found three items of clothing, but in total I spent just £9, so I was quite restrained.

We then stopped off for some lunch before continuing to where OH was racing. I stayed in the car with the dog until later in the race, reading my book and just chilling, as we'd got up very early to go out and I was pretty tired. Then we joined him on the finish line before we all headed home. It was nice to get out of London again for the day, but we were glad to get home and just relax.

Home Again and Something New - W/E 20th September 2026 - Part One

Coming home to London was a bit of a downer after having a lovely holiday in Cornwall. It was, however, good to get home to my own bed and also to see how the garden and allotment had fared in our absence. We got home on Saturday afternoon and after putting all my washing on, OH and I headed to the allotment to check on everything there.  All was well and we harvested some tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, raspberries and a few strawberries. We didn't water, as rain was forecast the next day.

The garden had fared okay too. There must have been a bit of rain whilst we were away, as all the plants looked fine and some I'd left in trays were sat in water.

I didn't really unpack fully until Sunday morning, after I'd had a good night's sleep, as the journey back from Cornwall was long and tiring. After getting unpacked, I did some financial reckoning after the holiday. I did spend quite a bit on holiday, but nothing excessive. 

I then put a grocery shopping list together and headed off to our local Lidl to do the main part of the weekly shop, as there wasn't a great deal in the house to eat. I was able to use a £5 off voucher which helped. It was very busy in the store and once again, there was an incident where some people were arguing loudly. Hence why I don't normally shop here. It was, however, good to get the shopping done.

OH was out cycling most of the day and it rained on and off all day. It was a pity, because it was our local Jumble Trail (table top sale). I thought about going to take a look, but we'd done so much car booting and thrifting on holiday, that I couldn't really justify it and if I'm honest, the rain did put me off. Instead, I stayed home and did some blogging and more financial stuff. By the end of the day, it felt like life was back to normal, more or less.

It feels like we're now on the run in to Xmas. I've started buying a few small gifts here and there, but I don't have lists from LB and OH yet. There's just my 60th birthday on the calendar between then and now. I'm not planning on doing anything special for it though, maybe a family weekend away.

On Monday, I still headed out of town to do the remainder of the weekly shop. There were quite a few bits that I couldn't get locally and I like to get out of town at least once per week.  I was lucky to get a few things I was looking for on offer, which saved me a bit of money. I also filled the car up with petrol, as there wasn't much in the tank after our journey home. It's been going up again quite a bit lately. We noticed this on our travels. Where I shop it is always a lot cheaper than anywhere nearer home.

I did also drop into the charity shop and bought a couple of things, one of which I needed for something I was doing later in the week. I also got a couple of books for £1, one of which was The Salt Path by Raynor Winn, which is the story of the author and her husband walking the South West Coastal Path when they became homeless.  I went to see the film of the book, which I enjoyed and subsequently there was a lot of controversy over the book and it's author, but I still wanted to read it, as we are thinking of walking the path at some point and it will remind me of and prolong thoughts of our lovely holiday. I am now about half way through the book and it is a very enjoyable read.

Whilst out shopping, I also managed to return an item of clothing that I bought in Cornwall, that I decided was not for me, at a local branch of the store, which I was happy about.

Tuesday, I was back to the gym for my usual Zumba class. Unfortunately, when I got there, I found out that the class had been cancelled, which was annoying. I decided to do some walking on the treadmill and cycling on the exercise bike instead, before heading home. Any kind of movement is a plus at the moment.

When I got home, I decided to do a bit of pruning and tidying in the garden. I just clipped back my hazel bushes and tidied up the hanging basket and a few other plants. I also brushed the cobwebs off the garden chairs and table and swept the paved area of the garden. Small things, but they helped to make the garden look a bit tidier. There's still more to do, but it felt good to get out in the garden now that the weather is a bit cooler and just potter.

On Wednesday, I did something new. I went along to a Green Gym at a community garden a train ride away. I enjoyed the session, the people seemed very friendly and I made a drinking water station for a hedgehog or other wild animal. They had me sawing wood and using an electric drill to screw it together. I've never done either before really, so it was a learning curve. The water station works well and replenishes the water as it gets drunk, without it spilling over. Some sort of magic really, who knew. Anyway, here's a picture: 

Very simple and rustic and it could do with being painted, but I'm all for learning new skills. I came home with some rather large radish, that I'm hoping to pickle and some scotch bonnets for OH.

In the afternoon, I caught up on the final of the Sewing Bee on iPlayer, which was good, then later OH and I watched the first episode of the final series of Slow Horses. We missed out on tickets to watch it and the second episode live at the Barbican, as it was sold out. It would have been a good night out.

Talking of the Barbican, we've also missed out on tickets to go and see the Conservatory this month before they renovate it. I believe that they are giving away free cuttungs of some of the plants on the day. I've added myself to the waiting list in case any more tickets become available. OH is apparently also on the waiting list and believes there might be another opening later in the year, so fingers crossed.

Monthly Clothing Purchases - August 2026

A bit late, but here's last month's Monthly Clothing Purchases post.  After months of buying numerous items of clothing, I decided to try to reduce purchases this month, after all, I was trying to declutter by having a Car Boot sale, so it seemed pointless to keep bringing more into the house.

However, I failed at the first hurdle, after visiting a car boot sale with OH the first Sunday of the month. I came home with three clothing items. The first was this 100% linen navy tunic top, which I bought for £1. It's from Phase Eight, which is a quality brand. Trouble is, I didn't like the long lagen look length, so I have now shortened it to make it more wearable for me. The excess linen will always come in handy for patchwork or some other small sewing projects. I wore this to the cricket, and it was very comfortable on a hot day and looks quite smart too.

The second item I bought was this sweater with pouffy short sleeves for £1. I thought the sleeves were cute on this one. It's a little snug, but hopefully I will wear it when the weather gets colder, a good layering piece.

I also bought this pair of 100% cotton elasticated cuff trousers at the car boot, with nice big patch pockets. It was a bit of a gamble as to whether they would fit, but for £2, I thought it was worth the risk and happily it was. I've already worn them several times and they are very comfortable. I can see me wearing these a lot, as they are one of my favourite style of trousers at the moment.

A visit to the charity shop resulted in three more clothing items being bought.  The first was this jersey jumpsuit that cost £5. It's probably not everyone's bag, but I do like a jumpsuit, even if I just wear it around the house and garden. I've worn it once already and it is very comfortable to wear.

The next item I bought was this brand new with tags 100% linen shirt from M&S, which cost me £3. It's a very bright green colour, but I have some shoes this colour which I can wear it with, possibly layered under a sweater vest. A bargain, as it is a quality item.

The final item from this visit to the charity shop was a black shirred broiderie anglaise dress for £5, which I subsequently cut down to a skirt. I'm afraid I didn't take a picture of it as a dress, so here's the new skirt version which I've mentioned in another post.

On a second visit to my favourite London charity shop a couple of weeks later, I bought this cotton top, which I thought was really pretty for £3. I really like the paisley type print on it and the frilled neckline and sleeves.

I bought one more clothing item whilst we were away in Yorkshire, from a charity shop.  This top cost £4 and is made of cotton broiderie anglais. I liked the bright colour of it and the loose fit, although it is slightly itchy and I may need to wear a vest underneath it.

I did also buy a couple of fascinators with a view to wearing them for the wedding, but I didn't in the end, so I'll be re-donating them.  I probably paid £5 for the two, which was a bit of a waste of money really. I just came to the conclusion that they're just not my style.

In total then, in August, I spent £29 on second hand clothing/accessories, which was a little more than I spent last month, but less than previous months. I've been very happy with most of the items I bought though and some of them will be worn a lot.

Monthly Makes - August 2026

Rather than being a month of making, August, was a month of making alterations to items of clothing  that were in my wardrobe and that I wasn't quite happy with. The first item I altered was this 100% linen tunic top that I bought at the car boot for £1. Whilst I really liked the neckline, sleeves and looseness of it, it was just way too long and lagenlook for me, so I decided to cut some fabric off the bottom, re-hem it and make it shorter and more me. Here's a before:

(Please excuse the creases)

It didn't take long to just re-hem it and I have to say, I'm very happy with the result and I can now see me reaching for this a lot, as it is very comfortable to wear in hot weather. 

Here's an after picture:

The second item I altered, was one that I had altered previously. This top was originally a short dress. I think it is 100% cotton, although I can't read the label, but it feels like cotton lawn, which is great for summer. The problem was, that every time I reached for it, I just didn't like it on. I then had a bit of a lightbulb moment, that altering the sleeves might help. They were originally 3/4 length and elasticated and it's not my favourite length of sleeve, so I shoved the elastic up to the top of my arm to give an idea of how it would look with short sleeves and I much prefered it. 

It was a simple enough job to shorten and re-hem the sleeves. I didn't re-insert elastic, as the less tightness around any part of the body when it's hot the better. I'm very happy with the results. I can see me wearing this top a lot more now. Here's what it looks like now:

I liked it that much, that I decided to wear it for the rest of the day.

Another item that I altered involved hand sewing some new straps to a jumpsuit. It didn't change the look of the item at all, but just made it fit better, so I haven't posted a picture here. It was good to get this small job done though, as it meant that I could wear said jumpsuit, which I bought a month ago.

I also did a bit more work on my second Suffolk puff project, making a few more puffs. I'm pinning them to the lampshade as I make them. Here's where I'm at currently:

A long way to go, but I'm hoping that I've got enough fabric to complete it.

I did a couple more alterations this month. The first was to my favourite sweatshirt, that I've had for years, and which is really useful for taking on holiday for cool nights/days. It had a ring mark stain on the front and despite my efforts, I've not been able to shift it. I didn't want to throw it away as I like it, and I had some patches in my stash, so I ironed them on over the stain, so that I can continue to wear it. Here's a picture of what it now looks like:

A much better solution than recycling it for rags. I'm just hoping the patches stay on when it's washed and worn, otherwise it will be a bigger job to stitch them into place.

The final small alteration job I did this month was to cut a dress down to a skirt. I bought the dress from the charity shop for £5. I'm afraid I didn't take a before photo of it, but it had a sheered top with puff sleeves. The only problem was that it was way too low cut at the front and back for my liking, so I cut it down to a skirt. I've already worn this several times and it's very comfortable. It's made of cotton broiderie anglaise, but it did have a polyester lining, which I removed, as I don't want any synthetics against my skin in hot weather. Here's a picture of the resulting skirt:

Just small alteration projects for the main part this month. I didn't get around to making any trousers on account of the wedding and other distractions, but hopefully I'll get around to them another month. I was, however, happy with the results of the things I did alter, as it has made several things much more wearable.

A Cornish Staycation - W/E 13th September 2026 - Part 2

Thursday, on our holiday in Cornwall, was our penultimate day. We decided that we would go to Marazion to walk across the causeway to St Michael's Mount. We have visited Mont St Michel in Brittany, many years ago, which is quite different, as it has many shops and restaurants on the island, but St Michael's Mount has a castle and gardens. It is free to walk the causeway to the island, but to get onto the island and visit the gardens (which were closed) and the castle, it cost £21 each, if you don't book the night before, so we decided to just walk the causeway and enjoy the views. The tide was out from 9.45 am until around 1pm and this allows you to walk all the way to the island. We enjoyed this and then came back across the beach. 

From here, we then drove back to Penzance and this time LB and I got to enjoy a bit of thrift shopping in the town.

Later in the afternoon, OH and I visited Lamorna Gardens, which are situated overlooking Lamorna Cove. They are mainly planted up with tropical plants, hydrangeas, camelias and rhododendrons, which are planted in terraced beds dug into the cliff sides. It is an amazing garden, but quite steep in places and you do have to watch your footing.  There are lots of paths through the gardens and some lovely viewing points, from which you can see Lamorna cove, which is a lovely little rocky cove.

On Friday, our last day in Cornwall was spent in St Ives. OH went for another bike ride and LB and I met him there for the afternoon. Before heading off, I determined to take a swim in our little local rock pool. It would have been such a pity to go home without taking a dip, so at 8am, I ventured down and had a swim. There was one other person there and we got chatting. I was so glad that I did it. It was cold, and a bit slippery under foot, but very rejuvenating. Next time I come to Cornwall, I will definitely bring my beach shoes.

Our last day was another lovely sunny day and it was very busy in the town of St Ives when we got there.. (I had previously visited St Ives as a teenager, when I went on holiday there with a friend and her parents for a week and ended up with severely blistered legs from sunburn. We had to travel home by train and I remember finding it really difficult to sit on the train seat all the way home. I was a mess)  Thankfully, there was no repeat on this visit.

St Ives is a beautiful, Cornish town/resort, but is incredibly busy. It has  lovely sandy beaches and lots of beautiful shops and cafes. We wandered around the shopping streets and then stopped in a cafe for lunch. The harbour is beautiful at low tide and many people sat around this area on deck chairs.

We then walked up to the Tate St Ives, where we went up to the cafe for a Cornish Cream Tea, which was very nice and had great views of Porthmeor beach. We didn't go into the gallery, but we did sea a couple of beautiful artworks on the way up to the cafe. Of particular interest, was this beautiful glass piece by Patrick Heron, a famous Cornish abstract artist, whose daughter taught OH at university.

There followed a wander around some more streets in the town and a visit to a local bakery, where I bought a Hevva (Heavy) cake, a traditional cornish cake, which was traditionally baked by fishermen's wives to welcome them home from sea. It tastes very nice, similar to a Rock Cake, but denser. It is very nice with clotted cream and jam. By the time we got back to London, there was only one third of the cake left.

We had a fabulous holiday in Cornwall. We managed to pack quite a lot in, but it still felt like we'd only scratched the surface. The drive home seemed a little longer, probably because we didn't have our holiday to look forward to. I would definitely go again and would recommend it to anyone. There is so much to do and see and the scenery is breathtaking. We would also like to attempt more of the South West Coastal Path at some point. Who needs to get on a plane and fly when we have such beauty here at home.

A Fabulous Week in Cornwall - W/E 13th September 2026 - Part One

On Monday morning on our holiday in Cornwall, OH and I got up quite early and decided to go for a walk into Newlyn, which is the next village along the coast. It's quite an easy flat walk. The coastal path is eroded in places, so we were forced to walk on the footpath adjacent to the road for most of the route. This didn't detract though, as you get lovely views over the sea and we passed the odd place of interest including a memorial garden to victims of a shipwreck back in the 1980's, which paid tribute to both the seamen lost and the members of the Lifeboat crew that were attempting to save them. It was very touching and a strong reminder of the dangers of the sea.

We stopped off in Newlyn for a coffee, snack and toilet stop before venturing further up the coast to Penzance town. It was only about 3 and a half miles in total, but we enjoyed just getting out, getting some exercise and checking out the local area. There was plenty to see along the route, including the Newlyn Art Gallery, harbour and the Jubilee Pool, which is another sea water swimming pool, but on a much bigger scale. 

When we got to Penzance, we had a walk up the main high street, which has lots of lovely little independent shops and cafes, then later caught the local bus back to Mousehole, which runs every half hour and deposited us a hundred yards from the cottage.

It was a lovely sunny day, so when we got back LB joined us and we went down into Mousehole and sat on the beach for  a couple of hours. OH and LB went for a swim in the harbour, whilst I just had a paddle.

On Tuesday, we headed out to the Minack Theatre, which is an outdoor theatre built into the cliff in the 1930's by an amazing local lady called Rowena Cade, with the help of her gardener Billy Rawlings. It was an amazing place. Here's a few photos:

Here, we watched a talk by an actor, playing the role of Billy Rawlings, telling us about the work it took to build the theatre. We had amazing views over the sea and coast and the sun beat down on us.

It was well worth a visit and was definitely one of the highlights of our holiday.

From here, we went a few miles further down the coast to Lands End and then stopped for a while in Sennon Cove, which is another beautiful sandy beach. We walked along the beach and watched the surfers and stopped at a local cafe for lunch before later returning to Mousehole.

Wednesday, was another morning of Car Booting. OH went out for another bike ride, whilst LB and I visited the Rosudgeon Car Boot Sale which was situated on the other side of Penzance. This was a great car boot sale with lots of stalls. I bought a few plants here and a few items of clothing. The stalls were super varied and there were lots of interesting items for sale. 

We spent three hours at the boot sale before meeting OH in Helston a few miles away. Here, I visited the Museum of Cornish Life, which was full of artefacts, costumes and antique machinery and tools from hundreds of years of Cornish life. It was interesting to find out more about life in Cornwall over the centuries. I saw a toploading washing machine that was similar to one my mum used to use in my childhood, which brought back memories of washing day when I was a child.

I also saw a photograph depicting the fashions of the 1970's and I can remember wearing a party dress that was very similar to some of the dresses in this picture.

There were also lots of costumes on display, that were worn to the Floral Dance, which takes place every May in Helston. Only those who are born and bred in Helston are invited to take part in the dance. There were also items of clothing worn by both men and women in the tin mines, the remains of which can be seen all around the Cornish coast.

After stopping in a cafe in Helston for lunch, we then went on to Porthleven, which is another very pretty fishing village on the coast with a lovely harbour. Here the waters outside the harbour walls were quite rough and there were people out surfing again.

(Please excuse my fingers in the corner of this picture!)

We bought an ice cream here and after doing so, a seagull dove down and almost landed on my head in an attempt to steal it.  They weren't successful, thankfully. (Although I did see one steal a whole cone from a gentleman in St Ives later in the week. It vanished in seconds, so be warned)

This post concludes Part One of our Cornish getaway. More in Part Two

Getting Away to Cornwall - W/E 6th September 2026 - Part 2

The second half of the week was about getting ready to go on holiday to Mousehole, Cornwall. I had a chill day on Friday, getting packed in readiness. It was nice to be able to take my time and not be rushed. As we were driving down to Cornwall, we could just throw everything in the car - no airport checks or restrictions.

I managed to get all my packing done, water all the indoor plants and then went to the allotment and watered the plants there before we left. I had an early night, as we were getting up early on Saturday to set off on the 6 hour drive to Cornwall.

On Saturday, we set off at 7.30am, We were really lucky and had a really good journey down. We stopped off at a couple of service stations en route and the journey really didn't feel too long. We were also able to get into our accommodation early, which was good. It was a lovely cottage with a relaxed feel, sea views and a small private garden. It was quite a warm day, so we opened up all the windows and it was lovely to feel the sea breeze blowing in.

We spent a couple of hours chilling in the cottage unpacking and then we walked down to a local cafe and rock pool for a drink. Here's a photo of the beautiful rock pool in the village, taken a couple of days later when it was very quiet. 

It's a wonderful seawater swimming spot, just a few hundred yards from where we were staying.

We then walked down to the lovely little harbour in Mousehole, before returning to the cottage. There is no food shop in Mousehole, save for the deli, so we went out later to Penzance, to get some groceries for the first few days of our stay, before returning and relaxing on our first evening.

On Sunday morning, we got up early. OH was heading out on his bike and LB and I were heading off to the nearest car boot sale, which was a 40 minute drive away. Many of the car boot sales in Cornwall seem to be  held during the week, which is interesting, so this was the only one I could find that took place on a Sunday. It was in Frogpool, near Truro.

It was a nice car boot sale on a playing field in a rural location, and had quite a few stalls.  We had a leisurely wander round. I didn't buy a whole lot, but I did pick up 3 items of clothing for £2.50, which I'll post about in my monthly clothing purchase post. I also picked up a couple of preserve jars that need replacement seals, for 50p each, a succuluent plant for £2 and a couple of terracotta plant pots for the garden, which cost 50p each. I only spent about £7 in total. LB managed to find quite a few things that she wanted to buy, so we both had a good morning.

Later, we met up with OH and we all drove back to Mousehole, where we picked up some take away food from the deli in the evening and chilled back at the cottage watching TV.

Our holiday had got off to a great start, with lovely weather, staying in a very picturesque village on the Cornish coast. It felt like a million miles from London and was super relaxing.

Getting Back to Normal - W/E 6th September 2026 - Part One

This week started with a quiet Bank Holiday Monday at home. After a very busy and sociable weekend, I was more than happy to be back in London and just potter around at home and get back to normal.

When I got back home, I was happy to find that I'd received a pension quote from the second of the pensions I'm intending to take when I reach 60 this year. Hopefully, I'll be able to get both applications sent off in the next couple of weeks.

OH went out for a cycle ride on Bank Holiday Monday, whilst I stayed home and unpacked, did some laundry and settled back into life back in London. I spent some time looking up some holiday accommodation in Cornwall for our summer holiday and later OH booked it. I don't think the weather is going to be great all week, but after such a hot summer, I'm not too worried. There will be lots of places to visit and things to do, even on rainy days. We will be staying in Mousehole, in a lovely cottage for a week. I'm really looking forward to just having a break, relaxing and exploring somewhere different.

Later on Monday, OH and I visited the allotment to harvest and water.  After 4 or 5 days away, there was quite a lot of food to pick. 

On Tuesday morning, I was booked into Zumba at the gym. It felt good to get back to exercising. In the afternoon, I headed out of town to do the weekly shop. I stopped into the charity shop, but only came home with a book, which was a good thing really. The grocery shopping didn't take too long. I didn't have any vouchers this week though, but did pick one up from Sainsbury's to use next week and also gained enough Lidl points to get a £5 off voucher next time I shop there. Everything helps.

Later, after supper, I caught up on some financial reckoning for the month, as it hadn't got done due to our being out of town. It had been a good month really, as I'd received a pension pay out from a very small private pension that had matured, which I immediately transferred into an ISA. It was a bit disappointing that tax got taken off it, but I should get it back next year, as I haven't earned enough this year to pay any tax at all. I also had a small win on the Premium Bonds, which is always nice to receive.

On Wednesday, I had a day where I didn't need to go anywhere or do anything much. I did some laundry, pickled two large jars of beetroot, picked up a prescription from the pharmacy and just generally had a chill, pottering kind of day at home.

The ballot for Wimbledon 2027 opened today, so I tried to enter. I had to wait in a queue for 13 minutes, as the site was extremely busy. I did eventually get through and was able to enter into the ballot. We'll just have to see if we get offered any tickets, we haven't been for a few years now.

On Thursday, I was back at the gym for a class, which was good. In the afternoon, I did a bit of pottering in the garden, potting on a white mulberry bush that we bought at the weekend and some thyme that I also bought. I also sowed some white and blue borage and some marigold seeds, but I don't know how they will fare. 

I harvested as many hazelnuts as I could find on my two bushes in the garden this week, which was just as well, as on Friday the squirrel appeared, rustling around in the bushes looking for nuts. They probably found some at the back of the bushes that I couldn't get to. They tend to bury them in the garden and forget about them, as I have potted up quite a few seedlings this year and there are more in the borders. I also collected some cob nuts from a tree down the road earlier in the week and I'm hoping to sow them and grow a cob nut tree.

I also made a batch of jam on Thursday, as the weather was cooler. I made 5 jars, using blackcurrants and gooseberries, but most of the jars I used were quite small. It has made a bit of room in the freezer, which is much needed.

I spent the afternoon catching up on three episodes of the Sewing Bee, which I enjoyed. I also made arrangements to start doing some voluntary work later this month. I've been wanting to do it for a while and decided to just take the plunge. It's actually more of a Green Gym, but it involves working in a community garden one day a week. It's a train ride away, but it will be good to get out and about a bit more. I'm looking forward to it.

I'll make a separate post about the remainder of the week.

A Long Weekend in Yorkshire - Week Ending 31st August 2026

The second half of this week was busy.  OH and I travelled up to Yorkshire on Wednesday afternoon, for the first time since his brother's funeral in June. Luckily, we had a good journey and arrived at OH's mum's house at about 5pm. She had very kindly cooked us a roast dinner, which was nice and we spent the evening catching up on family news.

On Thursday morning, OH went for a run and I met him in a nearby village, where I'd gone to do a bit of last minute shopping. We then went back and picked up his mum and took her for lunch in her local village at a nice little cafe. The food was very nice.

We had to be at our wedding accommodation for around 4pm which was situated out in one of the villages to the east of Hull. We met my sister there, who was busy waiting for the bridesmaids to arrive. The accommodation was lovely, with a swimming pool and steam room, which we took advantage of almost straight away. It felt very relaxing to go for a swim and use the steam room. We then went back to our room, got showered and got ready, before heading out to a nearby village pub for some supper. We left the bride, bridesmaids and mother of the bride to have a relaxing girly evening before the big day.

The day of the wedding, we woke up to heavy rain. Fortunately, the rain subsided by the time we got on the minibus to the wedding venue, which was located in the middle of the local countryside. Here, we had pre-wedding drinks and chatted to other family members before we were ushered into the ceremony itself. 

It was a lovely small wedding, and the bride looked beautiful. (Don't they always) The weather just held off for the main photos to be taken and then when the rain resumed, we were all ushered into the main lodge for the speeches, food and the evening disco. The food was a Greek theme, which was a nice surprise, and very tasty, the bride and groom having holidayed in Greece many times. 

It was a lovely day, long, but relaxed and very enjoyable. I think everyone had a good time. We, along with my sister, left a little early, as we needed to get another minibus back with some guests who didn't want to stay late until the end, but we were all pretty tired by the time we left at around 10pm, leaving the youngsters to dance the rest of the night away.

After a nice breakfast the next day, we said our goodbyes and packed up and made our way to Beverley for a walk around the town and the weekly market. It was a very busy Saturday morning in the town. We bought a few plants from one of the market stalls and then made our way back to OH's mum's house.

Later that evening, we headed out with OH's mum, to his niece's 21st birthday party at his sisters house near Malton, North Yorkshire. It was a lovely party, with a marquee in the garden. Once again the weather was kind to us all. We left around 11pm and again left the youngsters to dance and party into the early hours.

On Sunday, we were up and out again, this time heading up the East Yorkshire coast to Withernsea. On the way, we stopped off at OH's cousin's house, who has a nursery business and he gave us a grand tour. He is a specialist breeder of birds and other animals, so it was very interesting to see them all and then stop for a cup of tea. They were very hospitable. 

Eventually, we journeyed on to Withernsea, where OH's father has a bench dedicated to him at the lighthouse in the town. OH's mum wanted to give it a good clean before it was put away at the end of the season. It was also the first time we'd got to visit it since OH's father had passed away a couple of years earlier, but unfortunately for us, there was a garden party going on with lots of people in attendance and live music, so we'll probably have to visit again next year to get a proper look at it. We stayed for a while and visited some of the charitable stalls, before heading into the town to get fish and chips for lunch and have a little walk around before returning home. It was a nice day out.

OH and I decided to return to London that evening, to avoid Bank Holiday traffic and have a chill Bank Holiday Monday at home. It had been a lovely social weekend away, but to be honest our social batteries had worn right down and we were ready to head home. The journey back was a good one and we got home by 8pm. It felt so lovely to get back, relax, watch a bit of TV and head to bed early. It was lovely to see LB too and see that the garden had received some rain in our absence, at long last.

We now need to plan our summer holiday. I think we are going to stay in the UK and possibly visit Cornwall, although the weather isn't forecast to be that great. More about that in another post.

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.