Tuesday 31 January 2017

January

So here we are at the end of January and I'm on a day's annual leave from work.
Originally S was due to be off because of an inset day.
However the inset day has been moved further along in the week to Friday and G is off then anyway. 
I decided not to cancel my day off.
Firstly because I needed to use my leave by the end of March and secondly as we were having a little trip to London last weekend (more on that in another post) it would work out quite nicely having an extra day off afterwards.
I did think it would be lovely to have an extra day to myself, one with no commitments, to do as I pleased........
 but with feeling so rubbish last week I am playing catch up and so it's not quite the day I had envisaged.

Looking back to the start of the month I'm really glad we had arranged our day out to somewhere new, it was good having that to look forward after the festivities.
Then this weekend away at the end of the month was a huge treat.

I'm so pleased to have been able to read so much.
The first book was from my swap with Jo and it was the perfect gentle read for over Christmas and the New Year.
The second, a biography about Danny Kaye, was an interesting read about one of my cinematic heroes.
I'm not sure the author followed many different lines of research, it was more of a potted history rather than an in depth look into his life. 
Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm is a selection of short stories by Stella Gibbons.
I've had this for a couple of years and already read the majority of them so it was just a case of finishing the last handful and now this one will be off to the charity shop.
The final book is Birds of a Feather, a Maisie Dobbs mystery.
I was sent the first and second in this series by lovely blogger Kezzie after I had commented on a blog post she had written about them.
Jacqueline Winspear has now published 13 of these stories and I shall be adding them to my wishlist.
 They start off in the late 1920s and there has clearly been a lot of research concerning WW1 and social history of the time which makes them very entertaining and informative reads.
In the interest of sharing on the generosity of blogland if anyone is interested in reading these two books I would be happy to send them on.
Please leave a comment by end of Sunday 5th February and any names will go into a hat.
 If no interest them off to the charity shop they will also go.


I mentioned in an earlier post that I would save all my charity shop buys and do one post a month about them. Well purchases have been few and far between in January. In total I have bought 3 things.
The most I have spent on one item is £3.00 and that was on this polka dot back pack. It was practically brand new and long time readers will know of my love for all things dotty, this was a must buy for me.


The second item was a plain, long sleeved, v necked navy t-shirt. Far too boring to bother trying to get a photo of, but a good basic item to have in the wardrobe. 
Final buy was £1.00 spent on a plain black jersey pinafore which originally came from New Look. Love the fact it also has pockets.
This is an exceptionally rubbish photo taken at the weekend. I wore it to London and it proved to be the most perfect thing to travel and walk around in as it was so loose and comfy. 


8 comments:

  1. Love your dotty rucksack, can't go wrong with dots and spots. Hope your day off was good, even with all the catching up xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's always good to have a day to catch up! Hope you weekend in London was a good one, I'll look forward to reading about it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm glad you like the Maisie Dobbs books and the others you read. Your rucksack is brilliant.
    By the way, what size are you because I ALMOST picked up a red polka dot jacket for you on Saturday but it was a size 14 petite and I thought you might be a 12, not petite, so it would be good to know in case I see it again!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great to catch up with your news, sorry you have been a little icky, hope you are all better now. Great find in your shopping, love the back pack. I would have been interested in the top two books, but I already have them both in my piles to read!! Hee hee! Don't think I need two copies, but I am sure someone will read them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Lisa. I would love to read the Maisie Dobbs books so will you please drop my name in your hat, and if I am lucky I will post about them and pass them on afterwards so that others can enjoy them too. Keeping my fingers crossed . Jenny

    ReplyDelete
  6. Isn't it nice to have a day to chill out, catch up ... just do whatever you want to do.

    Three purchases is not bad ... and I do like that dotty rucksack.

    Sweet idea with the books, but please do not include me. I am way behind with my reading at the moment and have quite a few books in my pile I'm working through.

    Happy Friday, and have a good weekend too.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  7. The pinafore was a great find, I'd wear that too with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath plus a cardi. You can carry lots in that backpack and it looks very new, so a good find too. Looking forward to hearing about your London trip! x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Although I would love the books I will have to decline from the offer of them as I hardly get time to read! I am trying so hard to read an Alan Bennett book but doze off after 2 pages! Your charity shop finds are great as usual. I like the pinafore/smock and feel you can never have too many of them in your wardrobe! x

    ReplyDelete