Charity Shop Chic

I've never been a snob where charity shop clothes are concerned. For the last few years particularly, I've revelled in the thrill of discovering the "perfect thing" for the fraction of the original price, getting a green buzz and donating to a deserving cause all at the same time.

I am quite discerning and items have to be in excellent condition, be a great fit or easy to alter, for me to buy them. At the risk of this blog becoming a clothes horse here are my most recent joys.

I can't resist a ditsy floral print and this cheery shirt brings me little bit of Liberty-esque cheer for £2.50.

It came home with me this morning after a lovely walk around the town to find a present for my nephew's first birthday. Living where we do is a very precious and a deeply held pleasure of mine. I love to catch snippets of conversation, jokes and news being shared when I walk from shop to shop and through the old market hall.

There's something very special about bumping into friends while you're out and about, chatting to the stall holders and just enjoying being where you belong while doing something so very ordinary.

And it was more welcome than ever today. It has been a hard, emotional week. After a brief reprieve, I was told on Thursday that my working hours will definitely be cut down by almost half from April. It looked as if the axe might not fall after all, but now it has and the disappointment, stress and money worries a second time around have been much harder to bear for lots of distressing reasons.

But all things pass. This is not what I will remember as the years roll by, it will be just something we got through in the past. So I keep re-reading my positive intentions and  keep my eye out for the cheap and cheerful. Like this.

I don't wear blue all that much, (a navy school uniform put me off for a long time I think) but I do love it. And this Topshop dress is a beautiful little number to wear and will be perfect for warm office days and special occasions

And when you discover a new item, with the labels still attached, unworn, the thrill is magnified tenfold. My aunt and uncle are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in June and have invited all of our small family here for a very special lunch . Roses with a 50s twist will be the perfect thing to wear. Can't wait.

While we're losing a lot financially I am very grateful for all that I do have, especially with all the bigger concerns going on around us all at the moment and such devastating events across the world . These small spends mean much more than if I'd been able to afford them full price, if that at all makes sense.  £12 the lot. Not bad.  In fact very, very good!

Have a smashing weekend.Xxx

Taste of Things to Come

It may have been cold and rather breezy but our real first taste of Spring yesterday was just wonderful. These two enjoyed it very much let me tell you. Nothing like making mud swamps up at the allotment and burying your dinosaurs to pass the afternoon.

The man of the house got stuck in too, he's the hard labour behind our allotment spoils while my thing is more of the cutting back and planting variety. This will be our third season up on The Avenue that may moons ago was the site of the Home Farm of the big manor in the village. The land was turned to allotments in 1940 and villagers have been digging for victory ever since.

The views are superb and there's a special peace and quiet up there that I don't find anywhere else. Because they're surrounded by houses the plots have no sheds or structures and there is no piped water and fires are not allowed. Ours is a very simple site and the more special for it. Just plants, compost and the odd bench and bath full of water. Perfect.

The soil is beautiful, it crumbles like chocolate cake and there's not a stone in sight. Very different to our little garden down the hill. This year, (with any luck) there'll be more flowers, salads, new potatoes, climbing beans, peas, radishes, broad beans, courgettes, strawberries, raspberries and hopefully a few squashes and pumpkins - if we get the weather.

And today - even though its too early, my favourite cut flower is back in the shops again. The scent of stocks fills the house and takes me right back to our May wedding day. Oh I am looking forward to happy Spring days. Are you too?

Scenes From Sunday

Rain has poured down incessantly this weekend. Hammering stair rods in fact. There is nothing for it but to revel in a lazy, relaxing day at home today. I've done rather a lot of that this week, although none of it was very relaxing. My nasty virus seems to be on the way out though now thank goodness, even if a week on the sofa and in bed has given me then chance to get all the way through the Foyle's War and Band of Brothers box sets.

But I did a little more sloping around in my pyjamas this morning, just for good measure.

And spent an age in the bathroom eeking out the last of my favourite toiletries, a Christmas gift from my parents.

We all seem to be in the same mood for gentle pursuits today, catching up on reading, checking on the seedlings, a bit of bird watching and some plain old lozicking.

And then my favourite part of the day, spent in the kitchen in the company of The Archers, the shipping forecast and cricket from India. I find peeling veg in a fuggy, cosy kitchen on a wet Sunday morning so very comforting.

And now maybe we'll venture out in the rain, walk off our lunch and see how high the river has crept up overnight. The train trips that rumble down our valley have begun again for the new season and the air outside the kitchen door smells of soot and steam. Too enticing to miss.

Thank you and hello to all the new visitors to my blog who have left such lovely comments (especially about my splurge dress -thank you, I'm blushing so much!)

I've had a couple of questions about the camera I use; it's just a simple Canon A580 Powershot I got a couple of years ago. The flash is rubbish but as I rarely use it that's not a big deal for me. The macro is good and it really is very simple to use. Hope that's helpful. Sxxx

Spoiling Myself

Throughout the Autumn and all over Christmas I kept gazing at this picture wishing it was me sifting flour next to a cosy Aga in this pretty frock. But if you too get the Brora catalogue you'll know that for me this outfit is the stuff of dreams.

£135 is just not within the realms of my charity shopping budget, so I've consoled myself with thrifted blouses and lucky finds for a couple of quid. The Aga is years out of reach too sadly. But I must admit to secretly longing for this beauty, even the name "40s dress in Hawthorne & Indigo" made me pine, me with my wartime housewife fashion sense.

And then someone, or rather the nice Brora people, had a Sale. A massive, huge, great big, enormous sale and for forty five of my carefully saved and squirrelled away spends (a third of the original price), this beauty became mine. Oh joy, oh rapture! I know I am supposed to be revelling in the goodness of self-denial but my resolve is weak dear readers and I succumbed.

One of my favourite epsiodes of The Good Life is the one where Tom decrees he and Barbara deserve a pagan rite - well this is mine. A one-off and it feels marvellous. So much so that I wore it to the cinema this afternoon (a little overdressed perhaps but who cares, it was dark) to see the King's Speech with my mother-in-law.

I might not take it off!

First

There's a moutain of washing to do, the house is a tip and my kitchen floor doesn't bear describing but today there were more important priorities.  

With two little boys off  for a run over the fields with daddy, I knew where I would be. Thick jumper and wellies on and at last, the first gardening afternoon of the year. Leaves cleared, the last of the summer debris removed and a little bit of last minute hedge lopping have smartened things up no end.

When we return from our little break I'm hoping to see colour as well as shoots in the borders and my pots are stirring into life too. The air was mild and full of robin's song and I stayed out until the light faded and smoke began to rise from our neighbour's chimney. Time to go in.

It was so good to breathe fresh air, lose myself in my thoughts and look forward to Spring. And my first garden cuppa was rather smashing too.

Have a lovely weekend.

Winter Walk

With a good coat and a warm scarfe I hardly noticed the wind and drizzle this afternoon. The outdoors called today, despite the weather. In the winter I enjoy nothing better than a day snuggled up at home but I remembered this morning how much I love to hear the wind in the trees, feel my cheeks glow with cold and just enjoy the silence. So it was decided, after a Sunday roast it would be time for a stroll down the riverside.

There is a bleakness in the winter landscape that I find enthralling. This hedge was wrapped in scarlet bramble whips and the colour on such a grey afternoon was startling.

My Christmas hat kept me very snug, even though I have a huge head and it looks rather more like a tea cosy on me than the beret style it ought to be.

The light was low and today felt like the trough of the year, right at the bottom where the sun doesn't reach. But if you look closely there are tiny, embryonic buds on the branch tips and dipping from the canal side willows were golden catkins.

Lichen is a magical thing isn't it and in the damp meadows between the river and canal it thrives.

Its a rather busy corner of the world too. Plenty of ramblers, noisy geese and whooper swans, dog walkers and the odd jogger, and cosy barges and motor boats are home to several people.

Even so, there was much peace and quiet to enjoy and the fresh air will hopefully see me through a busy office bound week before our trip away to the forest.

Back home the light has truly faded now and the lamps are lit. Time I think for sandwiches and cake. Xxx

Cheeriness

On a dark, dreary day like today, little things like these bring lots of cheer, lift my heart and make me smile.

Pretty thrifted blouses and  a little jug in my favourite shade of green.

Fresh fruit on the table and shoots full of promise.

Bright and beautiful tulips on the mantlepiece.

And a much needed cup of tea with a new magazine. Simple things but so much pleasure.