My Bank Holiday Monday

5.15am
Another early start to the day as David woke before me and I could hear him pottering around. It was 4.56am. We wake up early for work during the week and cannot seem to turn our body clocks off at the weekend. When I opened the patio curtains there was an another spectacular sunrise over the lake.

The carboot sale held on the farm yesterday was advertising that they had another sale on today so we are there again this morning. We checked whether the large carboot sale was going to be on in the field near Milnthorpe but couldn't see any signs up so we'll drive the couple of miles or so to see if it is on.

9.30am
Both car boot sales were on although smaller than yesterday. I am still pleased with my finds which I think are some bargains.

I bought two handbags that are as new, we'll certainly the black bag is. The first is this Kipling bag in black which will be useful. The second is a cutie Disney bag for my niece. She is nearly 20 now and has lots of sophisticated bags but you can't beat a little bit of Disney to put a smile on your face. They were £5 for the two.

From the same stall I bought this bag of 7 Yankee Candle votives and a votive holder for just £2. The scents are Lavender Vanilla, Lilac Blossom and Beach Flowers. I'm not keen on the votive holder so that has been given to my sister and I'll just use the candles. The votives are usually £1.80 each so £2 is a bargain for 7 of them.

I found this new Osprey silk handkerchief in a presentation pack. It is beautifully made and I think I will put this away for my dad as part of his Christmas present. It was £2.

I also bought these ladies Calvin Klein socks - 3 in a box o£3. They will go in my gift box for someone as at present for a birthday or Christmas as will this Timberland wallet (new) which cost 50p.

I have a vintage (1960s) Kenwood chef complete with liquidiser attachment that I paid £15 for at a carboot sale a few years ago. I always keep an eye open for extra bowls or attachments in case mine break so I was pleased to find this bowl, dough hook, whisk and iconic K blender attachments for £5 for all four items. The stall holder even threw in an egg slicer for free.

I bought this Soap & Glory bag for 50p and am going to keep this for myself. I have a selection of bags that I keep in the boot of the car now that you have to pay for carrier bags in shops. This will go in the boot for non-food shopping.

I bought a couple more DVDs for 75p each. The Maggie Smith one is for dad as it is one of his favourite films.

There was one stall where it was 6 items for £1. I had passed it once but my sister made me go back to look as she said the profits were for charity so we had to spend some money there. I bought this travel Connect 4 game, these Minnie Mouse slippers and 4 DVDs that were without boxes for £1.

I also bought 3 boxes of Viva la Diva clear plastic shoes boxe at £1 each. I store 90% of my shoes in boxes and some are starting to look a little tatty so I will transfer some into these boxes. They are so useful to see what shoes are inside them.

We are currently sitting on the edge of the lake enjoying the sun and each other's silent company. We will have to pack the car in a while for an early get away for tomorrow but for now we are enjoying our bank holiday break. I hope you have enjoyed the Blog Every Day in May challenge as much as I have and I hope to post more blogs that I have done in the past. Follow me on Twitter #themrsdanvers.

My Sunday

I woke at 5.16am to the most beautiful sunrise over the lake and the promise of a magical day. I started writing this looking out over the lake with the misty haze slowly turning from grey towards blue and I decided that it was going to be a shorts wearing day. I wore my new denim shorts that I bought on eBay a couple of days ago - remember them? along with a blue & white striped t shirt and my £2 adidas superstar trainers.

So it was off to the large carboot sale in the field near Milnthorpe, then on to the smaller carboot sale at the nearby farm. I bought a pair of Hotter plimsolls in a lovely spotty pattern - almost Cath Kidston for £2. I can't believe that my previous blog was about selling shoes as I have too many and here I am the next day buying more.

I bought quite a few items of toiletries and cosmetics such as this Eve Lom facial cleanser, Tom Ford perfume sample and Boots No.7 mascara for 50p. I also got a number of Avon Planet Spa items for 50p each too.

 

There was this cute little bucket with a tube of hand wash and hand cream for 50p along with this Roxy wallet for 50p.  Another 50p item was the Rachel Khoo hardback cookbook.

I bought this boxed set of two Steven Fry series for £2 and these DVDs at 50p each. I got quite a few DVDs again as they ranged in price from 3 for a £1 to £1 for brand new sealed copies such as The Theory of Everything. I also got the boxed set of The Walking Dead (series 1 & 2) for £4. I have quite a stack of DVDs to watch now do they should keep me going for a few weeks along with some magazines that I bought at 10p each. I also got 4 magazines for £1 from another lady that are late 2014. They should have been £4.99 each which is expensive for a magazine in my opinion but at 25p each I can't grumble.

After the carboot sales we drove into Morecambe to visit the festival market. I stocked up at the food stall there which I have written about in a previous post. I'll let you know what I bought in another post later this week.

It was back to the cabin for a cooked brunch and then we sat out on the veranda chatting and looking at our purchases for a while.

In the afternoon we drove to Milnthorpe to visit one charity shop that was sadly shut when we got there but the one next door was open and had a half price clothing sale on. I bought this striped t shirt that fits beautifully and this Christmas jumper which is sadly too tight. I love that it is pink rather than the reds and greens that you usually find. I'll put it away as a little gift for my niece at Christmas. Both of these were £1.75 (half price from £3.50 each).

We face timed our mum and stepfather who live in France early evening because it is my stepfather's birthday today. He is 77 today and we are pleased that he has enjoyed his birthday with his two sons visiting him over from England.

We have an evening out tonight and it is a tie between visiting Trungs Cantonese restaurant in Bolton le Sands or The Eagle pub in Over Kellett. My sister is kindly driving so David and I are just sipping a glass of fizz before we get changed and head out.

I'll let you know how our evening went in tomorrow's post.

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My Saturday

Up at 4.15am - I know - it's not normal but I am just rubbish at getting back to sleep once I wake up. Yesterday I realised that I have too many shoes and sandals and they were starting to spill out from my closet on to my bedroom floor. Not a good look when I am trying to tidy up the house and find a home for everything.

I store nearly all my shoes in boxes so I got all my shoes out of the closet, had a look in every box and I'm embarrassed to say I found a couple of pairs that I did not know I had! One pair is a lovely black loafer which will look great with skinny jeans. Result! 

After a clear out I found some shoes that had been worn just a couple of times or not at all and not for some time so it was time to list them on eBay. There are 16 pairs in total. How can I have found 16 pairs of shoes that I don't wear? I worry about being caught up in consumerism and find myself right in the middle of it. Well I am sure these unloved shoes will be able to find new loving owners and I should be able to make some money from their sale, plus I have some extra space in the closet now and no shoes on the bedroom floor.

I spent the morning listing them on eBay and here are some of them:

I have started the monumental task of going through my clothes to list on eBay now. I am such a hoarder and rather than get rid of clothes as and when, I just put them in suitcases and store them in the loft or in the garage. I must have at least four suitcases full now so I know this is going to be a long task. I know I will feel so much better when they have all gone and I will welcome the additional funds so I suppose I will just have to get on with it.

I dropped David off at work, called into the horrid Sainsburys store to use a £9 off a £60 shop voucher. I would not shop there if I did not have a voucher. They have a silly carpark that is tricksy to navigate (a lady was knocked over and killed in it a year ago). They have mobile car washers who flock around you when you park, pestering you to have your car washed. This irritates me no end even though they are fairly friendly and I am always polite to them but it just irritates me.

The staff are generally miserable and treat you as an inconvenience and I'm not keen on their produce either. I tend to buy staples with the vouchers so I bought laundry detergent, milk, cat litter, slug pellets and wine. What a mixture that is! Rant over.....

I stripped and changed the bed, turned the washing machine on, tidied up and then got ready for our weekend away. I had a snack lunch of sliced banana with a delicious Mississippi mud pie yoghurt in my Piglet bowl. I know it is for child really but I love it and it sums me up in every way.  

I packed my weekend bag for our long weekend break at Pine Lake where we have visited many times before. We are spending the weekend with my sister and brother-in-law who are staying for the week. It is a little over an hour's drive away from home so not too far and easy enough for us to leave first thing Tuesday morning so that we can still get home in time to get changed and then go off to work.

Because the log cabins are right on the waters edge, it is lovely to sit on the veranda and look out over the lake. It almost feels like you are sitting in a boat rather than on land. We have opened the wine and are sitting on the veranda watching a guy water boarding. The sun has popped behind the clouds but it is lovely and warm and the light on the lake is lovely making it look a deep verde de gris  colour.

We have an evening ahead of us with Indian snacks, Indian mains with mini naan breads and mango chutney. There is also plenty of wine in the fridge but we will have to refrain a little as we will be up early in the morning for two or three car boot sales. I'll let you know how I get on in another post.

Hope you all have a fabulous bank holiday weekend.

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