Words on Wednesday

At the beginning of October I bought a lovely Denby mug with a picture of a Wren on it.  Yesterday while walking round the charity shops in our little town I spotted two more cups, so of course they came home with me.

Two of my favourite garden birds, a Robin and a Blue Tit.

It is interesting that they have information on the back about each bird.

So my new 'collection' now consists of three of these lovely mugs.  

I also spotted this for £1.99 and door stops are always handy especially heavy ones.

They fit in with a theme that also seems to be developing!

Monday afternoon we popped over to a local shopping complex as our son and his wife had come down and they and my husband wanted to pop into Marks and Spencers.  I wasn't too keen but went along for the ride.  They got a few things in there and then we went over to TK Maxx, again another shop I am not too keen on shopping in, but I did find a couple of lovely lambswool jumpers that were nice and cheap and look good on.

A nautical themed jumper

and a nice bright and cheerful orange jumper.

I now need to clear two jumpers (at least) for these to replace.  I do have some well worn ones that I think are well over due to go.

I took some things down to the CS yesterday so that was good and made a little bit more progress on my clearing.  

This morning I've got to take my bike down the road for the light to be replaced - he had to order it in.  I'll go for my walk, then pick up the bike to ride it back home.  We are then going out for a family Christmas Lunch - a bit early, but it was the only date we could all get together to do.

Next week we have our younger son's PIP assessment which we are fretting and stressing over as so much depends on it as does he!  I've got my CT Scan, which seems to have come round quickly and Percy goes back in for another round of Chemo treatment.  

Tuesday Talk.

I didn't feel like going for a walk this morning, I had a little sleep in instead...I had planned on taking the dogs out later in the day, but by the time I had got other chores done, I ran out of daylight.  

We had to go to one of our local garden centres today to sort out our club card as although we had renewed it, and fortunately had the proof, it was saying it was expired when we last went.  Fortunately they managed to sort out the glitch and gave us a refund from the meal we had at the previous time it wasn't working.  We had lunch out which was nice and a welcome distraction.   

I had to post an eBay parcel. Slowly selling things, but only for a few pounds, I do sometimes wonder if it is worth the effort.

I went down the road to have a look at glasses and may have chosen a pair, very different from what I normally have, but should hopefully increase the actual usable field of vision so I can actually use the variofocals for the purposes I want to use them for, i.e. reading music, but also being able to see the conductor... reading books if I want to, without having to move my head, and walking around wearing them.  Same price approximately as the previous place, so still not cheap.  I have gone away to think about it.

I also went to try a bike out that I saw in the local bike shop.  It is second hand, but the sort of bike I have been wanting for a very long time.  You sit upright, there is no downward pressure on the shoulders and arms which will suit me much better.  So I have asked family if they would like to contribute towards it for my Christmas present.  Probably not the best time of year to get one, but it is a very good price, and you don't often see them.

I manged to get a lovely pack of pure wool also which I am really pleased with as it is a thin ply.

Lovely colours!

A Friend on Friday

I managed to walk the dogs this morning before the rain came down which was good as it has been pretty damp and horrible weather wise the rest of the day.  Percy seemed to cope with the walk pretty much as normal which was good as well. 

These fungi are near our cherry tree so I took a photo of them.

They look so smooth and shiny with the morning dew/dampness on them.

There are still brave roses coming out in bloom.  But I don't know for how much longer.  I bet they will be pretty much ruined by the end of the weekend.

I picked up a couple of quite small pyrex dishes from the CS the other day.  This one matches a set I have, and now that there is just the two of us these smaller dishes are quite useful for cooking things in.

My friend came to visit today.  I haven't seen her in months and months.  So we had a good catch up and chin wag.  It was a lot of fun...although my throat feels a little hoarse now.

We still haven't had the report we were told would be emailed through yesterday afternoon which is frustrating as we are being badgered by someone else about it, but it is out of our control. 

Well I think I am going to have to go and put the heating on.... still having to do it manually as the Electrician hasn't turned up or responded to my messages either!    It is starting to feel rather chilly!

Have a great weekend.

Walking on Wednesday

What a beautiful morning it was, crisp blue sky, perfect for walking.  I managed to get a load of washing on the line before I set off.  We walked 9 km today, so feel pretty proud of myself (this is without the extra dog walk I do).  

It was a really pleasant walk today, avoiding most roads, and mainly over fields, but with proper footpaths, so not too muddy which was nice, especially after the heavy downpours we had yesterday.

On the first Wednesday of each month the walking group finish up at one of the local churches that holds a coffee morning.  I had a really lovely cup of green and lemon tea, a brand I hadn't tried before.  Wish I'd taken note of what it was called as it really was tasty.  I allowed myself one small home cooked square of cake as a treat.  It was just over an inch square, so basically two small bite sizes, but just enough as a treat. 

These were just outside the church and looked gorgeous.

My husband and I then went out to the local garden centre for lunch, as they do a roast dinner on Wednesdays.  We will have a light salad for tea.  I prefer having a larger meal in the middle of the day as my digestion seems to cope better with it.

A spot of shopping then needed to be done as it is our younger son's 23rd birthday on Sunday and our older son who is currently away at sea asked us if we could get something from him for his brother.  He has bought him a pair of trainers (fortunately our younger son wears the same size and style of shoe all the time in part due to his Autism so it was easy to get them) and a pair of jogging bottoms and zippered hoodie top, whatever you call them.  

I have been wanting a new pair of trainers for general walking as the trainers I have just make my feet hurt.  I did get my feet measured up in a specialist shop in our little town, and I tried on a pair of trainers that felt pretty good....until they told me the price; £225!  I nearly fell over backwards.  Needless to say our budget doesn't run to this kind of expense.  I thought while we were in the shop getting our son's footwear I would see if they had anything that might suit me.  I do have a proper pair of walking boots that I got just before I went to NZ, but don't want to have to wear those every time I go out walking especially if just walking on footpaths.  I was pleased to find a pair of Karrimor multisport footwear reduced to a mere £32.99 which is a much more sensible price and being waterproof they will suit my needs much more.  

I wore them out when walking the dogs this afternoon and can report that so far they seem really good.  They are also very lightweight which for me is always a thumbs up.

In the factory shopping complex where we got the footwear there is also a Hospice shop and a Free Book Shop.  We always like to pop in both of those to see if there is anything on our wish list or otherwise.

I was immediately attracted to this wool checked jacket which was in the men's section, but was clearly a woman's jacket.  I tried it on and it fitted nicely.  It will make a nice warm jacket to wear when out walking when I don't need a waterproof jacket.  

I spotted this lovely Denby mug at a really good price, and with it having a little wren on it, I just had to have it.  I can now get rid of at least one of the chipped mugs in our cupboard.  

Oh and I forgot to show this pretty little picture frame that I picked up in the charity shop yesterday.  I will probably use this as gift - putting a photo or picture inside.

I picked up three books from the Free Book place, and plan to go back with a bag of books to give to them.  These three all have a nature theme to them.  

A small paperback of this popular book.  Such lovely inspirational illustrations.  I do have a hardback copy somewhere but I think it must be packed up as a lot of our books are.

I love reading Derek Tangye, and don't have this one, especially in hardback so pleased with this.

This looked interesting so just added it to the pile.

All in all a good day.

Tomorrow I will go through my shoes and bag up any that are good enough to go to the charity shop.  I have tried various different trainers and footwear over the last few years so have quite a few that just aren't suitable.  I have been going through the them the last few weeks wearing them out walking to see how they are, and so far almost all had failed the test, hence needing a new pair.  I also will package up some books ready to take to the free book place and go through my jackets/coats to see if I have any that can go to the charity shop.  I did this earlier in the year, so I may not, but I will re-visit this task now that the colder weather is upon us.  It was only 6 degrees Celsius when I woke up this morning and the low of today is predicted to be 2!