For the third year running I'm taking part in A Buyer's Archive inspired by Elise (who has sadly stopped blogging but can be found on Instagram instead), to keep track of my spending on clothes and accessories.

THIS YEAR

I had a very enjoyable charity shop rummage with Sophie and Kezzie early in the month, we all had a successful day of shopping.

In the first shop I found a pair of boots for £12.00 that were exactly what I had been looking for. I stalked ebay and charity shops last year for a pair but found nothing. But if you wait long enough the charity shops always deliver!

In the same shop I found a striped short sleeve knitted top for £4.00, and a Fatface sweatshirt for £5.00.

The next shop offered up these Tu dungarees, brand new for £10.00. I wasn't sure about them but as soon as I tried them on I loved them. They're a wide leg culotte style so will be put into a capsule in the spring and summer next year.

I found some Joules trousers for £3.00, which are perfect for the occasional meetings I have that require me to look smarter than usual.

My second stripe top purchase of the day was an Oasis top, striped on the front and arms, floral on the back, just £3.00. How pretty is that?

As you can never have too many stripe tops I picked up another one, with raglan style sleeves for £2.49, along with these lovely New Look shoes for £5.99. These will be perfect for a night out I've got coming up, paired with the gorgeous French Connection dress I found last month.

Instagram offered up this Zara shirt with red detailing for £7.00.

And a charity shop rummage later in the month saw me go home with this M&Co jumper for £1.87 and a full skirt for £3.50. I can see myself wearing this in the summer with a white vest top and sandals. In the meantime I'm going to see if I can style it for the cooler months.

I bought a lot this month, but it's all pre-loved, saved from landfill and been given a new home in my wardrobe. This fact alone makes me smile.


LAST YEAR


I bought a few maternity bits from ebay in early November last year. A denim dress, £3.70, and a motif t-shirt, £4.00. Needless to say these haven't been worn much.

I also found some Clarks boots on ebay, very similar to those pictured, for £21.00, but they were a wide fit (I didn't read the description properly), so they went back on ebay this month along with the impulse purchase boots from last month. These boots sold for £21.50 and the others for £30.00.

I also bought some pants, three pairs for £14.00. Not exciting but necessary.


Total for November: £57.85

Total so far for 2018: £559.18
I'm deducting the £30.00 I got for the boots I sold on ebay, which brings my total to £529.18

Total at this time last year: £456.88

Left of £600.00 budget: £70.82

I did buy a lot this month but it's all pre-loved and I think I've purchased items that I'll get a lot of wear out of.

What have you been buying?

The third item in my wardrobe to gain the #30Wears Badge of Honour is possibly one of the most boring items I own! They've only been seen on the blog once before in a capsule wardrobe montage.

These Gap boyfriend cords were purchased in March 2018 for just £6.49 from ebay. They're pre-loved.

I reach for these on days when I know I'm going to be bumbling around at home alone.

They're very comfortable and easy to wear, if a little on the long side. Living on a farm this means the hems are perpetually covered in mud. But I like long trousers, it's a preference that only can be attributed to growing up in the 80's when 'hoisties' were a real style no-no.

They're a little too big and they're more grey than the advertised khaki (I'm considering dying them) but they've earned the #30Wears Badge of Honour none-the-less, so they deserve their blog post.

I've worn these cords 42 times in total, on this occasion with a black jumper that I can guarantee has been worn more than 30 times (I don't know the exact number as I've only been keeping a tally since October last year), and a pair of suede boots that I'd forgotten about. I found them in a dark corner of the cupboard under the stairs, discovering them is like adding a new pair of boots to my collection.

It's easy to assume that when buying items such as these they will be worn 30 times or more, it's the skirts and dresses in my wardrobe that get worn less frequently. But that is changing, slowly.

I've rambled on about the #30Wears campaign in other posts, so you can read more here if you fancy.

Have you got any such workhorses in your wardrobe?

November 17th was the chosen day for Photo An Hour this month. As with last month I didn't realise until I was scrolling through my Instagram feed at lunchtime but my morning was pretty standard.

Weekends don't really hold the same meaning for me as Andy always works and as a self employed person the working week doesn't really exist. I work as and when I need to.

So my day started as any other day does. Feed cats, make tea, empty or load the dishwasher, put some washing in the machine, sort out the litter tray. Breakfast, shower, make a to-do list for the day.

I had two things on my list for the day, to make progress with decorating the bedroom (possibly even get it finished!) and get some knitting done.
Fresh out of the shower I found Socks curled into a ball and had to fight the urge to climb back into bed and join in him in his snoozing.


Come lunchtime I'd managed to do one of the things on my list - knitting. It seems I'm incapable of finishing a project before I start another. At some point in the near future this pile of body parts will resemble three bunny rabbits.


By the time 1 o'clock rolled around Andy had been home for lunch - baked beans on toast - and he'd made me a cuppa before heading back out to work for the afternoon. I sat contemplating my next move.


By 2 o'clock I was upstairs in the bedroom. I'd sanded the threshold step so I could stain it, and I'd done some touching up on the skirting boards that I'd painted the day before. This isn't the carpet, it's the ancient underlay. We've been looking at carpet samples for weeks. They're all so similar - mid brown with a slight fleck - we couldn't tell the difference between them so we've just opted for the least expensive of the lot. I plan to buy a huge rug to cover most of it anyway (not that I've revealed this plan to Andy yet...).


At 3 o'clock I was waiting for the stain to dry and had grabbed my book hoping to finally finish it. I'd been reading this book since the beginning of the month and wanted to get it read. I'd been reading a few pages here and there and as a result the story felt fractured. I needed a good chunk of time to concentrate on it. Now that harvest is over Andy is home before bedtime I tend to read a lot less, but if I take too long over a book I often forget important plot points!


I light the fire everyday at around 4 o'clock before it gets dark. I can't believe that it's mid November and we haven't had to turn the central heating on yet. I know we will soon but this is unheard of (the temperature has dropped since and the heating went on for the first time November 20th).


Still on the sofa at 5 o'clock, still with a cat on my lap, and a book in hand, Andy came home and joined us. Which is where we stayed other than to cook and eat supper. I had hoped to nip up to the bedroom and give the step another coat of stain but I just didn't have the motivation. It was far nicer to stay on the sofa, in the warm, with my husband and the girl cat.

The evening was predictably spent watching Strictly Come Dancing.

Thanks to Jane and Louisa for hosting #PhotoAnHour. 

My birthday always starts early in the day. Andy wakes me up with a cuppa at about 6am and hands me a pile of presents. Once opened he hurries me out of bed so we can have our traditional birthday breakfast in a cafe in a nearby village. It was filled with workmen starting their day with a fry-up and a good strong coffee. We both had the small cooked breakfast and yet still left with full bellies.

Andy then went to work at about 9am, which is late for harvest time, and I decided to spend the day with my Mother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, her husband and three children. We made pom poms, watched Monster's University on DVD, and enjoyed a fabulous lunch of BBQ Chicken with roasted vegetables.


I was given some fabulous presents which my youngest niece helped me to open i.e. she gave me the present, took it back, opened it, and then handed it back to me. I was given a Quad Grow planter (my niece was very unimpressed that such a large present was so boring - in her opinion - I was very pleased) ready for some potato planting next year, and some garden centre vouchers. And some cherry bakewell fudge that I might have eaten all myself (I did).

Then I had two birthday cakes. My eldest niece decided that I'd like a Victoria Sponge shaped like an H with three candles, because three is my favourite number. And my youngest nephew decided that I'd like a Lemon Drizzle cake, so I had both. Both with candles, both served to a chorus of Happy Birthday. Two lots of candles, on which I made the same wish (I can't tell you what I wished for, if I do it won't come true).


Then I rushed home, full of cake, so I could meet my Dad in town. We had dinner at Ask (Crab & Ricotta Half Moon Pasta), followed by a trip to the cinema. We saw The Children Act, which was excellent. I love Emma Thompson, and Stanley Tucci.

Emma would be at my Celebrity Dinner Party, along with Dame Judi Dench, and Kate Winslet. Stanley could come too. And Colin Firth, and Tom Hanks. Maggie Smith and Helena Bonham Carter. Simon Pegg, Chris Martin. And Ed Sheeran (he's a local lad, it would be rude not to invite him).

I'm going to need a bigger dining room table, but I seem to have digressed a little...

The next day I had a pub lunch with my Mum and a friend, sitting outside in the sunshine. When my Mum asked me what I wanted for my birthday I couldn't think of anything, so I asked her to get new batteries put into my old watches. It's something I'd been meaning to do for months but forgot to take them with me every time I went into town. I had one remaining watch still in working order, but then the strap broke leaving me watchless. It's been lovely to have my watches back and I've been wearing them on rotation.

I went home and got comfy on the sofa with the boxset of Nashville. I was stuffed. Two days of eating out was enough, I didn't even want to think about food, let alone cook anything. Andy had to fend for himself when he got home. I think he had toast and a piece of Lemon Drizzle.

I've been wanting to write a post about the charity shops in Ipswich for ages. The perfect opportunity to gather photos was on a Saturday when I met up with Sophie and Kezzie for a day of charity shop rummaging.

We visited all the clothing charity shops in the town centre (we skipped the furniture and electrical shops). There are others on the outskirts of the town but these are all within walking distance of each other.

It's a good job Kezzie was with me as she spotted a new charity shop that I'd assumed was a normal shop. It's now my favourite of all the charity shops in town. It's called Zest and is part of St Elizabeth Hospice. It's been excellently fitted out, looking more like a boutique than a charity shop. We were all very impressed, which is why this shop has so many photos.


There's some well selected merchandise among the donated items.


The shop was spacious and well laid out, showing off all the items to their best advantage.


Can you see why we all liked it so much?

Next up we wandered into Cats Protection. This is quite a new one to Ipswich, I happened across this a few weeks ago and found a brand new French Connection dress for just £7.00.

It's not as spacious as Zest but well laid out and has plenty to offer. I think all three of us made a purchase in here.





Cancer Research. I've found some good bits and pieces here over the years, it's always worth a visit.

Next up we found ourselves in Ipswich Outreach, another one that eagle-eyed Kezzie spotted! It seems I walk around the town not really looking because I take it for granted that I know the town well. I wonder when I stopped actually looking around me?

Sadly this one wasn't such a great find. It smelled a little funny. I think this used to be a butchers but I might be wrong. It was small and didn't have much in it, and the window display took away all natural light leaving it feeling a little dingy. It's such a shame as Ipswich Outreach is fundraising for a bus to help the homeless, which will house a kitchen, have seating and WC, along with two rooms to work with partner organisations for those in need of help.

It seems such a shame that a local charity can't compete with larger charities in terms of what they can offer when it comes to the charity shop experience. I'll continue to visit, despite the smell, but I don't hold out much hope of it improving.


Further up the road is Mind. This is one of my favourite charity shops in Ipswich. I've found so many lovely things in here over the years. I often park at this end of town just so that I can visit this shop. On this visit I found a pair of wool trousers from Joules for £3.00 and they're a perfect fit!


I always find this St Elizabeth Hospice shop a little cramped. If you had a pushchair or a wheelchair you wouldn't stand any hope of moving around in here. It's not one I visit regularly especially now there is another, better, St Elizabeth Hospice shop elsewhere in town.


After lunch (this was a whole day affair) we were at the other end of town, where there are lots of charity shops bunched together. All are pretty good, but hhe Samaritans shop is my favourite of these simply for it's bookshop on the lower floor.


I won't tell you how many books Kezzie bought in here, but it was a lot. Not that I have room to talk, the last time we all met up I bought 12 books - some of which I haven't even read yet!


Next up was Sense another one worth a visit. This used to be a shop for a different charity and it's there I purchased my first ever charity shop item - a long cardigan by Tu which I still have and wear.

Cancer Research again. A little on the small side but with loads of stock.


Two more. The Salvation Army and Age Concern. I've found lots of things in The Salvation Army and Age Concern has a good selection of wool for £1.69 a ball (good for pom poms).


The RSPCA is a pretty good one, if a little on the small side.


This is the other St Elizabeth Hospice shop I mentioned. It's much better than the other one we visited. It has more stock, it's laid out better, and although it groups things by colour (which I dislike but understand it looks more inviting from a merchandising point of view) it's brighter and more welcoming.

It was a this point that we went off in search of nourishment, which we found in an little indie cafe Doorsteps, were we found the most excellent chocolate brownies.

We all came away from the day with bags full of pre-loved goodies, I'll share what I purchased in my next Buyer's Archive.

The first Saturday in October I went along to the Hemingstone Flower Show, but I've already talked about that here.

On the Sunday I made progress with decorating the bedroom. I did all of the cutting in, which isn't my favourite job. The room has three windows and an open built-in wardrobe to navigate, so it took a while. The evening followed a familiar pattern of watching Dr Who, and Strictly Come Dancing, accompanied by a huge helping of Maltesers.

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The following weekend started with me digging in the garden. I wanted to dig up a few plants and move another and I needed to get it done before the first frosts. I then visited our local Garden Centre - Roots and Shoots. I picked up some bark chippings to replenish what we had, but not before sitting for a while in their tea garden with a huge slice of Battenberg cake and a pot of Earl Grey.


Then I rushed into town for some last minute shopping I bought a dress and a pair of shoes to wear to a memorial service the following day, convinced that I didn't have anything to wear (which of course I did). Then I bought a second pair of shoes, fearing the first were too high. In the end I returned the dress and the second pair of heels. It was emotional shopping and I knew it.


I loitered in town for a while waiting for the light to fade. I wanted to see the Town Hall lit up with pink and blue to recognise Baby Loss Awareness Week. I have mixed feelings about the week, mostly to do with it being impossible to get away from should you need to. It might be that this year it's just too raw, but I felt bombarded by it. To get away from it I would've had to disconnect from life entirely. Part of me told myself not to hide, but there was a part of me that felt it was too much.


On the Sunday I went to a special Memorial Service for Remembering Precious Babies. I'd hoped that this would be helpful, soothing, or perhaps cathartic in some way. But it wasn't. The church was filled with small children, running around and making so much noise I couldn't hear what was being said. I'd been looking for quite contemplation, what I got was chaos. It left me feeling rather strange.

I left declining to take a white rose, only to be chased into the car park by a well meaning midwife, asking if I wanted one. 'It's only going to die isn't it?' I said. It was too much.

Back to reality, I enjoyed beans on toast in my PJs and watched Country File, Dr Who and Strictly Come Dancing, snuggled up to Andy on the sofa. I realised that that was all I really needed. Comfort in the familiar, and the knowledge that we lost something precious, went through something traumatic, and come out the other side stronger. I'd been looking for something and it turns out it was right under my nose all along.

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The following weekend I had to work on the Saturday as I knew I had a busy week coming up. It felt good to get ahead. The evening was spent in front of Strictly Come Dancing again.


The next day my DIY plans flew out of the window. Andy has been restoring his Grandad's Fordson Major and was ploughing with it. We met with his Dad, Sister and her family and spent a few hours watching Andy go up and down the field. The nieces and nephews all had a ride with Uncle Andrew and I had a go too. It wasn't hard to drive in a straight line but very enjoyable to be driving something with such history for the family. It was a beautiful day. I skipped with my eldest niece, helped my youngest niece look for worms and gratefully accepted the 'treasure' they dug up for me (two stones and a clod of earth).

We went back to Andy's parents for lunch - roast lamb and roast beef - and played cricket in the garden afterwards. Then we sat and watched Paddington 2, which I really enjoyed. I cried at the end.

We were home in time to watch Dr Who and Strictly Come Dancing. It was a near perfect day.

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The final weekend of the month saw me take Afternoon Tea with friends, more about my day is in my Photo An Hour post.


The next day I did some more decorating. I honestly think this might be the longest DIY project known to man, it certainly feels that way. I did procrastinate before getting stuck in by talking to, and messaging people about Christmas. I got it all organised. I know who will be where and when, what we're eating, and who's cooking. It feels good to have it sorted.

The evening was Country File, Dr Who, and Strictly Come Dancing. We really are creatures of habit.