Sunday 26 April 2015

New boots and freebies

Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned!  I've stepped momentarily into the realms of "proper retail" and bought a new, yes new, pair of boots.  And I paid with money, not vouchers, real money, eek!

I popped into Birmingham last week for a day of retail therapy with vouchers I had still to spend, and saw a beautiful pair of boots in M&S.  Little ankle cowboy boots, lovely they were, and part of the Indigo range, which I really like.  My M&S vouchers did not stretch to the £59 cost of the boots though, so I walked away with nothing more than a furniture catalogue!   Anyway, as I exited Boots (the chemist) with some free mascara (courtesy of my Boots card points which I didn't realise I still had!) I spotted the Deichmann shop nearby and went in. These beauties caught my eye, and at £22.99 I thought they were much more my price level, so I bought them! 


They are a lovely moleskin colour and oddly, a size 5 when I'm normally a 4 (and a very small 4 at that!).  I've already worn them of course, we drove over to one of our nearest National Trust properties, Hanbury Hall, on Friday for a relaxing end of week picnic. 

Hanbury is a grand country house built in 1701 in the William and Mary style. 


We didn't go inside as we have been in so many times, we just had tea and cake and a wander around the grounds.





As ever, I was fascinated by the old set of staff rules in the old servant's hall cafe



Spot the fake windows on the side of the building, clever huh?!


The Spring flowers are just on the turn, it's a funny time of year as I like the splash of colour but much prefer the lush foliage of June and July.  This is the parterre next to the cafe


Where we managed a hands free selfie, thanks to the camera timer and a strategically placed planter!

I do love the way they store the empty planters behind the orangery, all lined up neat and tidy 

                      Talking of the orangery, plenty of citrus fruits growing in there!

The grounds have an Italian feel in parts


The orchards do well, all the trees are just coming into blossom.  I'm pretty sure I saw these orchards on the BBC programme Countryfile last year.

There are so many lovely gateways, I'd love a garden with a bit of freestanding old wall and a random gateway in it!  OK so the middle pic isn't a gateway, just a view of the house through the trees!

 Lots of garden buildings to explore too, and an array of beehives near the chickens

When we arrived home, the postman had delivered goodies, lots of BHS vouchers, courtesy of my cashback credit card, that I only ever use for essentials, I've never bought enough in a charity shop to warrant using a credit card! .  Pay your bills and get vouchers for free stuff, can't be bad!


Best of all, there was an offer on redeeming BHS vouchers, you used 10% less points to get the usual amounts, so I was able to squeeze another £5 voucher for my points!  I feel another no spend shopping trip coming on, yay!

Nothing to show on the garden front this week, we have done loads but it amounts to piles of things we've moved from a to b, so not at all exciting.  Our plans are now being drawn up by the architect and we need to see what forms and permissions we need to apply for.

Just in case you were wondering, my outfit was


Levi's £2, Toast jacket £1, Nomads top £1, Jocasi green leather bag £1, East scarf, not sure how much this cost but it was pennies rather than a pound, and the new boots.  The undies were also free courtesy of previous credit card vouchers, but I'm not going to show you!

Finally, if you follow my facebook page you will know the only bargain I had this week was a roll of Gardman lawn edging for £1.50.  It retails at around a tenner and I wanted to try some so it was a good buy, just not exciting enough to show the photo again!  

Linking up with Sheila's Shoe Shine!

19 comments:

  1. No way! The chap with the car boot stall next to us had those Autograph boots on his stall with the £59 price tag still attached, He wanted £10 and they were a size 5. What a shame.
    Hanbury Hall looks fab as do the pair of you, really loving the gardens.
    Yep, so easy to dress for less than a fiver when you buy second hand. xxx

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    1. Oh bugger! I'm really pleased with the ones I bought though just puzzled at needing a slightly bigger size! xxx

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  2. I think we finally have spring in my part if the world. I need to make a list of fill in items to stretch my wardrobe and head to a charity shop. Your look is amazing, though my big old feet couldn't even get a toe in a size 5 boot as pretty tiny. Are shoe sizes different in UK than US I wonder?

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    1. Hi Sam, thanks for stopping by. I think my usual UK size 4 is a US 6? I do have quite small feet (and hands) for my height! Thanks for the compliment on the outfit too, much appreciated!

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  3. Lovely photo of the two of you. And another gorgeous location - you do visit some fab places.

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    1. Thank you, Caroline. It's so rare to get a nice photo of the two of us together! we are very lucky in the Midlands to have so many EH and NT places to visit.

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  4. Oooh, the boots are rather nice!! They look really nice with that lovely light outfit you are wearing- I really like the jacket, not a bad price! The place you visited looks really attractive, I like revisiting places like that.x

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    1. Thanks Kezzie! The boots are comfy too, and I fancy wearing them with a knee length skirt and opaques. Hanbury is lovely, quiet and genteel! xx

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  5. Those boots were a great find... and they looked lovely with the rest of your outfit on Friday. Hanbury is our nearest NT place too! I love the longer walks around the edge of the grounds. Have you ever tried them? Jx

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    1. Hi Jan, thanks for your comment. The OH is not into tramping through the countryside much, so I am trying to break him in gently! xx

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  6. Hanbury Hall and its gardens look very elegant. And so do the pair of you - new boots and all! That's a great bargain outfit, I love totting up how much I've spent on everything I'm wearing and realising it's far less than lots of people spend on a single item! xxx

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    1. Aww thanks Curtise! Yes, I smugly swan around in my cheap outfits, this one should've been in excess of £300! I once went to work dressed for 75p, I found that highly amusing! xxx

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  7. Does this work? https://www.facebook.com/maureen.sinclair.792

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  8. Great boots, I am sure they will get so much wear. Hanbury Hall looks an interesting place to visit with their stunning gardens.

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  9. Great boots, I am sure they will get so much wear. Hanbury Hall looks an interesting place to visit with their stunning gardens.

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