Meeting Friends for Coffee Clothes

I love this outfit (good thing I do or why would I have bought it!!!).  So I wore it yesterday morning to meet friends at Costa for coffee.  Apart from the scarf, which I got from a charity shop for £1.99, everything else is from Bonmarche, again.  I had a bit of a panic attack this morning "What if Bonmarche go out of business, where would I buy clothes I could afford?".  Good job I've been stocking up isn't it.

This is the first 'occasional' handbag I've bought for years, usually I go for black serviceable bags that I can wear crossed over my shoulder. I thought it went very nicely with the above outfit, it was inexpensive, £16, and with my loyalty points I got it for £11.  The wallet matches better than it shows in the picture, the red isn't that bright, and it cost me £15 from a handbag shop in Sandown, Isle of Wight, when I was on holiday there recently.

 

The four of us had a nice hour together, three of us looked stylish for older ladies, and the fourth lady needs a bit of encouragement to make more of herself.  Just because we're pensioners doesn't mean we have to be dowdy does it.





Cosy Clothes

The jumper in this picture was just what I needed for this cool weather we are getting now...

I've teamed it with a gilet, scarf and jeans.  The jumper was £10 (because I bought two they were two for £20 instead of £12 each), the gilet was about £7/£9, I forget the exact price, it is a fleece Regatta, the scarf was £4 and the jeans are stretch denim at £15.  Apart from the gilet everything was from Bon Marche.  (I have no affiliation with Bon Marche, just thought I would record the clothes I'm buying this year and they just happen to mostly be from them.)



Nice Clothes

I've gone a bit crazy lately buying new clothes.  For quite a few years I lost interest in taking care of myself.  Lately I've felt much better and realised the clothes I had were a mess.  So it was time to update myself.  I have shown one or two things I bought in the past but lately I've bought a lot.  Here is a top and pants that I wore this week...

I love this top, and it only cost £14, the pants are sort of jogging bottom type fabric and cost £10, the scarf I already had.  This made a really comfy outfit to wear around the house.  I like a scarf, my neck gets cold so I always feel much warmer with a scarf.  I got the top and pants from Bon Marche, their clothes style has really improved this last couple of years, lots of stylish stuff for the older woman.



Round Robin Embroidery

I'm currently participating in a Round Robin that is for stitching related items.  So far we've made a needlecase and pincushion...

There are five of us in the group, four stitch on the item and the fifth (whoever the items are for) sews them together.  The others are doing crazy quilting but I wanted the type of finish you see in the picture, I think the work is beautiful.  I do enjoy stitching on the crazy quilting that the others are doing.  Our next project is a hussif.



Autumn Fruit

Well, what a summer it's been, it was actually hot!  It seems years since we had such good weather for an extended length of time.  Here are a few things from my garden...

I'm still getting rhubarb, it's done well this year, hardly got any last year.

 

I simmered the rhubarb then put it in a pyrex bowl and covered it with blackberries.  These blackberries are from a bramble that is growing wild in my next door neighbours garden.  It is creeping into my garden, I'm sure my neighbour doesn't mind sharing!

 

Here's the crumble I made, yum, rhubarb and blackberry crumble.

 

100g plain flour

100g sugar

50g corn meal

50g porridge oats

100g butter

Whirled all together in my food processor - easy.  The oats and corn meal stop the crumble topping being stodgy.

 

Now I've just got to do something with my damsons

 

Maybe another crumble.

 



Replying to comments

Thanks Theanne, Laurie, Peggy and Dorothy for your comments on my outfit.  I never know how to reply to comments.  I notice that on some blogs you can 'reply' to individual comments but not on this blog.  I enjoy reading your comments and do appreciate getting them, it is fun to hear from you and what you think of my posts.

Growing in Pots

It's two years since we got our polytunnel.  Last year was a terrible year for the veg I grew in it.  I think it was a combination of lack of sun, cool temperature and poor soil.  This year I decided that grow bags were the answer.  Each grow bag has two or three plant halos .  So far they are working out great.  They are easy to water and feed.  All the plants are growing really well.  The aubergine and peppers look very healthy, in fact the aubergine is the best one I've ever grown, and even the peas are doing well with lots of pods on them.  Also, it is easy to keep a check on slugs and snails, we have a terrible problem with these but I put plastic sheeting on the soil and placed the grow bags on top, this way I can safely use slug barrier if I want to, not that I have had to so far.

 

 

There are a couple of empty spaces in the corners.  Just to fill these in I planted sweet corn in two of them, don't know how they'll do but this year is really just a trial for the grow bags.  Next year I'll put grow bags in these corners too.  Can't you tell I'm pleased!

 

Next to the polytunnel I have a large raised bed.  This contains cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts.  I have completely covered this bed with netting as I was sick of cabbage white butterflies laying eggs on my brassicas.  Each year my brassica crop has been ruined by the caterpillars.



 

I managed to squeeze a row of broad beans and a wigwam of runner beans in our flower garden.



 

So, no lettuce, no beetroot, no carrots this year.  There are quite a few things I have missed planting this year.  After the disappointment of last year's growing and wondering how best to use the polytunnel I was a bit more cautious with what to grow.

 

Up at the house I have some cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets and a courgette in a big tub.

 

 

Notice I now have a water butt here.  Altogether I have three water butts now, very useful they are too.  Two are up near my veg plot, they collect the water from our garage.

 

My veg growing is more for fun than to be self sufficient though it does mean that some years I've had enough veg and salad to supply me for several months.