Last year I decided to make monthly resolutions but with the year we had I stopped making any after March, and focused on getting through the weirdness that was 2020.

This year I've decided that I want to focus on less. Accumulating and having less to be specific. To be a more mindful consumer.

An Instagram post I saw at the end of 2019 sparked the idea, this person purchased just five items over the course of the year (barring gifts for others, and essentials like food and toiletries). Five items - a shower squeegee, a silicon food pouch and a coconut bottle brush, and two lovely Christmas decorations (a rather splendid ceramic carrot and turnip).

I admired the dedication that required. She said it was simply a case of making the decision that she wouldn't buy anything, that she had all she needed. (I'd link to the post but I couldn't find it when I scrolled back).

I'd been thinking about this post over the course of 2020 and I think it's what prompted me to buy my final purchase of the year - a book called The Year of Less by Cait Flanders. I've already read it and I've realised that giving up unnecessary spending is more than just deciding, it's a process of breaking habits that have been formed over a number of years.

I haven't got it all figured out yet, but I'm hopeful that I can shift my focus to using and appreciating what I have, and doing some more decluttering in the process. Of course I see the irony of buying a book to help me stop spending but it was an interesting read (although the author talked a lot about her life and not as much about her spending ban as I'd have liked).

The first and probably most obvious change I can make it to use the flippin' library! I signed up for a library card a few years ago and other than taking shelter in there from the rain one day I haven't actually borrowed a single book. Of course my local library is shut at the moment, but it'll reopen when this latest lockdown is lifted.

I kept a list of all my spending last year and books are definitely one area in which I can spend less. I might not need to use my local library much as I have more than 50 books sitting in my TBR pile, which is more than enough to keep me entertained for an entire year. But if I need a reference book, a cookery book, or am tempted by the latest 'must-read' then I'll be making my way to the library.

I've said this many times before but clothes are another area for improvement, I have more than enough, although I can foresee a few things I might need. But need is the key word here.

For example I know I'll need some vest tops soon, ones to sleep in, as the elastic is going on the ones I have (they're all a good few years old), and I'll need some new underpants at some point, honestly some of my current ones are in a shameful state, I hope I don't get run over.

I don't foresee any occasions coming up that will require a specific clothing purchase, weddings, evening events, and other special occasions won't be on the cards for a while thanks to the continuing pandemic, but even if an invitation came my way I'm confident that I have something suitable in my wardrobe already.

As I say I haven't got it all figured out just yet but the intention, and basic idea is there. Being in lockdown again with non essential shops shut certainly helps in the short term, allowing me to work on resisting online impulse purchases.

There are other things I would like to do this year but I'm not sure I'd call them resolutions, I'm pretty certain that wanting to grow coral coloured sunflowers, and double the amount of peas don't count :) but that raises the question are seeds an essential purchase? I think we can all agree that they are, yes?

Are you making any resolutions?

Take care and stay safe.
xx

Just a quick one for me today, and something a little different. I've just read Kezzie's Style Imitating Art post, and whilst I've always enjoyed reading these I've never taken part - until today.

I was wearing a white shirt under a mustard jumper and realised how easy it would be for me to change my earrings, bung a blue snood on my head and ta-dah! I would be transformed into Vermeer's The Girl with the Pearl Earring - a painting that I have always loved!

It very much reminded me of a viral challenge that emerged during the first lockdown where people recreated famous works of art at home, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and this presented the perfect opportunity for me to have a go myself.

Below are some links if you'd like to see some of these recreated artworks. Some are genius, some are funny, some ridiculous but they're all worth a look!

demilked.com

timeout.com

metro.co.uk 

It was a nice distraction to what had started out as a bit of a frustrating day, and really lifted my mood. Style Imitating Art has a new host this week, Terri, and you can see everyone's interpretations on her blog tomorrow.

I hope you're well and staying safe and sane.

xx

Here's my annual breakdown of spending on clothes and accessories for 2020. I've been keeping track since 2012, and I've included the figures from previous years for easy comparison. You can see every item I purchased in my previous post.

Spending total?
2012  £1,751.00
2013  £1,188.00
2014  £745.65
2015  £1,207.87
2016  £742.39
2017  £663.03
2018  £546.18
2019  £400.10
2020  £205.85
I'm delighted that I managed to reduce my spending so much this year, I think being in lockdown might've helped as I didn't step foot in a charity shops for weeks on end!

These yearly totals illustrate the journey I have been on since I started blogging. My spending habits are certainly nearer to what I'd like them to be, when I first started blogging I used to buy mostly new and didn't give much thought to how long I kept something or how many times I wore it, and I rarely purchased second hand.

How many items did I buy?
2012  138
2013  131
2014  76
2015  74
2016  63
2017  83
2018  71
2019  66
2020  20
Just 20 items in 2020, that's rather neat. I had planned on buying one item per month but I'm still happy with this total. Can I get it lower in 2021?

What percentage of items purchased were pre-loved?
2012  42%
2013  58%
2014  46%
2015  41%
2016  37%
2017  52%
2018  69%
2019  87%
2020  80%
Not my highest percentage but still good, however I would like to improve on this in 2021.

What percentage of items purchased are still owned?
(at the end of the year they were purchased)
2012  90%
2013  65%
2014  ??
2015  75%
2016  85%
2017  85%
2018  97%
2019  86%
2020  95%
Only one item has been donated back to charity, a pair of men's jeans that proved to be a little bit too snug about the hips.

Total of discarded items
2012  unknown
2013  £240
2014  £91.47
2015  unknown
2016  unknown
2017  £88.14
2018  £21.17
2019  £29.72
2020  £4.50
And if they'd been a better fit they would've stayed in my wardrobe.

What percentage of items purchased remain unworn?
2012  33.3%
2013  13%
2014  ??
2015  5%
2016  12%
2017  19%
2018  22%
2019  3%
2020  30%
A swimsuit and a preloved dress remain unworn. I had an inkling that the dress wouldn't get worn but it was so pretty and such a bargain (£9.00) I couldn't resist it. I bought the swimsuit hoping that I'd get to the beach at some point in the summer but I stayed away when we were allowed to return to avoid the crowds. Also not worn were 3 tops and a pair of shorts that were purchased at the end of the summer when the weather gave up and my opportunity to wear them vanished, but they'll be worn as soon as they can be.

What was the most expensive item?
2012  £105.00 (half price) Kurt Geiger shoes
2013  £35.00 each for a pair of Toms and Next ballet pumps
2014  £64.00 for my very first pair of Irregular Choice shoes
2015  £85.00 on an occasion dress
2016  £95.00 for a winter coat
2017  £25.60 for my green skirt
2018  £66.15 jeans (full price £105)
2019  £32.00 ASOS jumpsuit
2020  £70.00 new leather rucksack

What was most expensive pre-loved item?
2012  unknown
2013  unknown
2014  £45.00 French Connection maxi dress  
2015  £34.99 Irregular choice frog shoes
2016  £18.00 ASOS floral wiggle dress
2017  £24.99 burgundy leather knee high boots (sold in 2018 on ebay for £22.00)
2018  £12.00 black knee high boots
2019  £13.00 sequin bag
2020  £9.50  Seasalt dress
It's expensive for a second hand dress in my opinion but as they retail at around £80, and it's good quality and well made, so I was happy to part with the cash. It's still the cheapest of the most expensive items bought over the years, so I'm calling it a win.

What was the cheapest of both categories?
2012  unknown
2013  unknown
2014  New grey vest top £2.00. Pre-loved scarf £1.25
2015  New blue pants for my wedding day £4.00. Pre-loved cork purse 75p
2016  New I purchased several items for £4.00. Pre-loved bracelet £1.25
2017  New flip flops for 90p. Pre-loved maxi skirt from ebay 99p
2018  New flip flops for 90p. Pre-loved £1.00 each for a pink scarf, and red summer top
2019  New ASOS boots £9.50 (sale). Pre-loved heart print vest top £1.00 (sale)
2020  New £19.49 New Look floral midi dress. Pre-loved button down camisole top £1.50.

2020 Buyer's Archive Resolutions - how did I do?
My goal for 2020 was simple. To buy, spend, and discard less than 2019, and I succeeded on all counts!

In 2021 I want to buy only what I need. Wish me luck!

Here are all the clothing and accessory purchases I made in 2020, a total of just 20 items. I had planned to buy one item per month and whilst I obviously didn't stick to it, it was successful in curbing my spending more than anything else I've tried.

When I saw an item I liked I would ask myself if I liked it enough for it to be my 'one item', most of the time to answer was 'no', and it went back on the rail.

I don't doubt that being in lockdown had an impact on my spending, even when we were out of lockdown I didn't want to venture out too much, I can probably count the number of times I stepped foot in a charity shop since April on one hand. Which is no bad thing (except for the shops obviously).

My only truly nonsense purchase was a pre-loved Monsoon dress. It's not the sort of thing anyone needs during lockdown but it's just so lovely. I'm sure that at some point the perfect occasion to wear it will present itself, even if I have to wait a while.

The most expensive purchase was the leather rucksack and given that this was purchased a week before we were put in to lockdown for the first time, and the need for a bag vanished overnight, it's actually been used a decent amount. It's the only bag I've used when I've been out since I purchased it. With luck (and mass vaccinations) I'll be able to use it so much more in 2021.

I hope you're well, stay safe, stay inside, and keep smiling!
xx

With Wearing It All Summer complete, I moved onto Wearing It All Autumn. I didn't know how long I'd keep it up for as the deeper into Autumn we got the more the weather thwarted my efforts to take daily outfits shots outside, my efforts to take photos inside has always been fruitless, but I continued for as long as I could.

I don't rejoice in the arrival of autumn, I prefer the warmer months when I can go out without a coat, the first time I wear a pair of socks after the summer always elicits a sigh of resignation, no more sunshine for a while...

I like jumpers, scarves, lighting the wood burner but letting go of summer is always a bit of a trial. This year it seemed that summer vanished overnight, replaced by howling winds and lashing rain. There was no gentle transition.

By the time I'd started week four of my autumnal Wearing It All, and I'd given up on trying to wear just one layer or going sockless. I wore scarves, and three layers on some days.

I started this challenge with a haircut. I did it myself, after watching a number of YouTube tutorials I decided to give it a go. It looked OK (it now needs another trim). I've yet to find a hairdresser that cuts my hair exactly how I ask them too, so in terms of getting what I wanted it's a success. Sure, it wasn't technically brilliant, but it was good enough, and I saved myself £35 and half an hour in a chair wearing a face mask, making small talk.

So, five paragraphs into the post, here's week one of Wearing It All Autumn. The first two days saw the last of the sunshine. I actually took off the long navy cardy and pottered in the garden relishing the feeling of the sun on my skin. But the next day it started to rain, then the wind got up (see day 5) and it didn't get much better.

Day 3 and 4 I wore one of my new tops. With the Summer Wearing It All challenge I know I have to wear something different everyday otherwise I wouldn't stand a chance of wearing all of my warm weather clothes. The summer challenge caused a lot of washing, and it took me a while to work my way through the resulting ironing pile! But as I have fewer cold weather clothes I can wear them more than once. I normally rarely wear something just once and then wash it, unless I dribble my dinner down the front (which happens more often than it probably should). I'm happy to wear something 3 or 4 times before dropping it into the laundry basket, especially if it's been worn with something underneath. How many times do you wear your clothes before washing them? My Aunt will wear something a maximum of twice, but my Uncle will wear something all week - if my Aunt lets him get away with it :)

The rain continued into week 2.

Out came the thicker layers, I did try to go bare ankled on a few days but usually by midday I'd pulled on a pair of socks and some slippers. It was socks weather from this point forward.

I went out twice during week 2, you can tell by the fact I'm carrying a bag. One was a trip to the supermarket, the other a trip to the post office, charity shop, and garden centre. I filled the boot with plants, some for the garden, others for the hanging baskets. I was so focused on the plants that once I'd wandered about outside I was half way round the inside before I realised I'd forgotten to put on my face mask. I was mortified and hoped no one had noticed. There were only a few other customers, and I hadn't been in spitting distance of anyone (not that I spit, it's disgusting), but I still felt awful, I'd been so engrossed in my own thoughts that simply hadn't registered the fact that I'd passed from outside to in.

Week 3 and I grabbed all of my jumpers and cardigans out of storage, and every last item of summer clothing was stored away. The long mustard cardigan is my most recent clothing purchase. I'd popped to my local charity shop after my friend told me that they're getting loads of items donated but not much custom. I'd hate to see it close so I made a few purchases - every little helps right?

This is where I stopped photographing the Wearing It All challenge, the weather was miserable and didn't allow for daily photos so whilst I still tried to wear as much of my wardrobe as possible, I just didn't document it, and I'm sure there's only so many photos of me standing in front of a wall that you can stomach.

We're well into winter now with icy cold winds and gales, overnight frosts that last all day and the threat of snow. It's rather nice not to have anywhere to go at the moment.

I hope you're all well, take care, and keep warm!
xx

I thought I'd document our Covid Christmas as it was markedly different to other years.

Christmas Eve started with Andy nipping out to work. I cleaned the downstairs loo (festive!) and then showered. I continued with some vacuuming and general tidying. Once Andy was home we had lunch (noodles if my memory serves) and then we embarked on a baking session. Whilst Andy made Scotch eggs (his best yet), I made some Yorkshire pudding batter and while it rested I baked some sausage rolls, and vol-au-vent cases ready for supper on Christmas Day.

Then I popped my Yorkshires into the oven and Andy set about peeling potatoes and parsnips ready to part roast and finish cooking for lunch the next day. This was my first attempt at Yorkshire puddings, as I usually cheat with Aunt Bessie's, I thought it was about time I put on my big girl pants and gave them a go. I FaceTimed my Mum so she could see them being taken out of the oven. She was impressed, they came out rather well, even if I do say so myself.

I cut a piece of our Christmas Cake to pop into my Dad's Christmas Day bag, which contained a gift, a Christmas cracker, some Celebrations chocolates and other festive treats. I'd dropped a bag off for my Mum the day before.

My Dad came over for the evening (we've formed a support bubble with him as he lives alone) and I cooked a not very festive but delicious lasagna which we followed with Christmas pudding and custard. Andy thinks we're weird for eating our pudding with custard but after 11 years together he's decided that it's actually rather tasty, if still weird, and has stopped insisting on Brandy butter (yuck!).

Naturally there were crackers pulled, terrible jokes told (when do astronauts eat lunch? At launch time!), and the paper crowns where (and always are) compulsory.

Following supper we played a card game, Newmarket, which has been played by Andy's family at Christmas for generations. Once we'd reminded ourselves of the rules we had great fun, Andy didn't win many games which is most unusual, and it was a close race between Dad and I but I won by the skin of my teeth.

Snacks littered the table and even though we'd eaten enough we still managed to munch our way through bowls of roasted peanuts, pretzels, crisps, and Celebrations.

BBC1 had been on in the background the whole time. Once the card game had been concluded Dad made his way home. After a quick tidy up it was time for bed.

Christmas Day started reasonably early. We opened a few presents whilst we drank our first cuppa of the day. Andy likes to spread the presents out over the course of the day, whereas I'd always opened everything in the morning after breakfast. We do it his way these days. We had scrambled egg and smoked salmon on toast for breakfast - a tradition from my childhood, we always enjoyed a cooked breakfast together, and in later years my brother and I did the cooking.

After breakfast I FaceTimed my Mum, we pulled crackers (paper crowns compulsory) and we opened a few presents together. For the passed few years we've done a Secret Santa in my family but I felt an extra present was necessary this year. I gave her some mushroom garden ornaments and a tiny 100 piece puzzle that required tweezers to handle the tiny pieces. She thought the piece of Christmas cake I'd wrapped for her was a hunk of Stilton cheese (which would've been an interesting choice as she's not a fan), but it caused a few giggles.

Next I FaceTimed my Dad and we repeated the pulling of crackers, opening of presents, and he successfully identified his cake as cake. He'd been in his shed that morning working on some screening for his garden and had a walk planned for the afternoon.

After popping the chicken in the oven, we opened some more presents, and watched King's College choir (I think). Neither of us really wanted anything this year, and neither of us had any truly inspired ideas of what to give each other. Andy received lots of clothes and some DVDs, along with a dustpan and brush to use when sweeping the ash from the hearth (a dull present as far as I'm concerned but he was grateful), and a joke present of three huge pots of Swarfega in an attempt to keep his grubby hands to a minimum.

Andy gave me a teabags in bulk as I've been unable to buy my favourite green tea recently (I've got no idea where he found them), some PJ bottoms, a selection of books, a water butt, a doorstop (both requested by me), and some popcorn in various flavours. And some slipper boots. 

Soon it was time to cook, and having prepped a lot the day before it was a pretty simple exercise. It was delicious and I have to admit I enjoyed our leisurely lunch more than the usual hectic affair with nieces and nephews. I'm never allowed to sit next to Andy as nieces claim their places next to me so it was nice to be able to chat and enjoy each others company uninterrupted. I did miss seeing everyone though.

After lunch we FaceTimed with Andy's family. We opened our Christmas decoration secret Santa gifts. It's the third year running we've exchanged tree decorations and it's probably my favourite part of the day. Everyone really enjoys it, especially the kids.

Soon after we drove to Andy's parents where we went for a walk. It was a bit soft and slippery underfoot and it was on the chilly side but it was nice to see them in person after not having done so for months. Feeling the cold on my skin and filling my lungs with crisp winter air felt wonderful.

At home we watched Eastenders, having had a conversation about never having seen a Christmas Day episode. We'd also wanted to watch the Queen's speech that afternoon but timings didn't allow, we watched at a later date on iPlayer instead.

We had a buffet supper - sausage rolls, scotch eggs, samosas, pakoras, prawn vol-au-vents, salad, dips, crisps - and had a bet as to whether or not we'd be able to eat half of the food we'd placed on the table. We did just about manage to eat half but forfeited pudding, which makes it the first Christmas ever that I haven't eaten anything sweet on Christmas Day!

I can't remember what time we went to bed but I was ready for it by the time my head hit the pillow.

Boxing day started with another FaceTime call to my Mum, we'd planned to go for a walk but the weather was horrid so we postponed. We had a lazy morning and after lunch, which was an equally delicious reheated roast dinner, we FaceTimed with Andy's family to open some presents whilst sipping tea from Santa mugs. I was given a lovely Magnolia plant, some bubble bath, books, and bubbly. Andy got some boy stuff (tools), socks, and a hamper full of local produce - mostly cheese.

We decided to FaceTime again later in the day and have supper 'together', which for us was a repeat of what we ate yesterday. Once again we were too full for pudding, making it two days in a row without any!

Overall it'd been a fun few days, very different to the years that preceded it but lovely none-the-less. It was nice to do something a little different, be at home more, keep traditions going in new ways, and celebrate with people remotely. I do hope next year is different, but this year has taught me that a little bit of time at home is every bit as nice and enjoyable as being surrounded by family and chaos. This year I got to spend so much more time with Andy which was really rather lovely.

I hope you enjoyed the festivities.

xx