Happy Friday everyone, I hope you had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend and a good week. It’s my favourite month, everyone around here starts to emerge from their Winter sleep and in celebration of the Spring, each village holds a special event. Sadly the dreadful Bank Holiday weather spoiled the first two that we’d planned to go to last weekend and we ended up spending Saturday hunkering down on the sofa with the boys having a popcorn and movie extravaganza. The good thing about that was that by the end of it we were full of unspent energy so Mr MC and I decided to have an impromptu date night and this is what I wore:

Nikki Garnett Midlife chic

Dorothy Perkins faux leather jacket; Zara top; Boden super skinny jeans; Monsoon tassel necklace (in store, can’t find it online) and …. let me tell you about what I think will be some of the season’s hottest sandals. You will NEVER guess where they’re from….

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Clarks!!!

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They also come in ivory.

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Each season Clarks do more and more wonderful things. It’s as if they’re testing the market for fashion forward shoes that are still comfortable – which these are. They’re high at nearly 4 inches but they have the fabulous Clarks cushioned sole, the brilliant engineering to support the foot and the ankle strap means that they’re easy to walk in. At the moment they’re lingering here, deep down in the website and are only available in large stores but I’m convinced that once the fashion press discover them they’ll sell out. I’m really looking forward to wearing them with my jumpsuit when it gets warmer. They’ll also be great for dressing up relaxed skinny blue jeans and a simple t-shirt.

I also want to talk to you about Boden’s super skinny jeans. I know I’m coming to these really late but the name has always put me off. However because they get consistently good reviews from older customers I thought I’d try them and I have to say they’re brilliant. Firstly they aren’t denim so if I dress them up, I can just about get away with them for work. They’re also supremely stretchy but they don’t squeeze your flesh which so many jeans with a high lycra content do. This means you don’t get that sausage skin effect. They’re a high rise so they’ll work well with t shirts – I hate that moment when you lean forwards in a chair in the summer and expose a large expanse of back (and worse). I like them so much I’ve bought them in white too.

Anyway on to the rest of the weekend. This is a ‘welly walk’ that we did with friends to raise money for the local hospice. A huge new link road project is taking place near where we live and this was the first time that people had been invited to walk the route and see the amazing array of machinery needed for a project like this, including Europe’s largest crane which held a peculiar fascinationfor the males in the party, I guess they never grow out of their Tonka toys.

Casual outfits

Barbour sweatshirt; Barbour quilted jacket; Next relaxed skinny jeans; Hunter wellies; TK Maxx crossover bag. Gary is sporting Cath Kidston – I do apologise for his ‘3 legged’ pose, it’s the only shot I got!

We met these particular friends through our children who have been firm buddies since their reception days although the 2 girls in the group currently tend to keep an aloof distance from the boys who still tumble around like tiger cubs. Hair, hoodies and trainers are suddenly starting to matter a lot though!

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On Bank Holiday Monday the sun appeared again and we went to our local scarecrow festival. You may remember me talking about this last year. It was founded by my old art teacher and has grown significantly. It raises lots of funds for the village that hosts it as people pour in from miles around to see what each family has created. This year’s theme was fantasy and there were some great interpretations. This one was made by the local school:

Casual outfits

Hobbs suede jacket; Boden cashmere V-neck; Gap denim shirt; Next relaxed skinny jeans; Boden Boho boots, Jigsaw sunglasses. The scarf was a gift from a friend who wanted me to believe that Primark’s pompom scarves are as good as Jigsaw’s. They aren’t because they don’t have the silk content but I still like this one too (not meaning to sound like an Aldi ad).

So, as you can see, some people work really hard on their scarecrows. Here’s a Wizard of Oz fantasy:

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This one was animated, the poor husband’s arm was on a very fast motor and it made lots of people smile (the village is called Wray by the way)…

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Morecambe is the nearest sizeable football team but they never seem to win anything…

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And, of course, a fantasy theme you couldn’t avoid last week, politics…

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My mum was a career teacher and every time she got a new job, I moved school. I started when I was just 2 years old and was allowed to sit at the back of her classroom, I remember doing lots of colouring! I went to this tiny one from age 4 -5 and every year my boys groan as I tell the same story about the outside toilets so I’ll tell you instead. In Winter if you were the first to go you had to wee on the ice to crack it before it could be flushed, I still remember having chapped fingers for months on end because the school was just so cold.

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It really is the epitome of an English village, this is the Church…

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With its own ‘scaresheep’

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As we walk through the woods we have a silly tradition of seeing who can throw a piece of stickyweed onto someone’s back for the longest time before they notice. This year I was the winner with my middle son.

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Usually the paths are lined with banks of pungent wild garlic flowers but this year they were only just coming out which shows what a cold Spring we’ve had up North.

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It’s quite touching how hard the villagers work to raise money for charity…

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Of course there is the obligatory English tea tent staffed by the old ladies as their husbands provide a running commentary of what’s going on outside

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The tables are groaning with home made baps and an endless choice of freshly baked cakes

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There are lots of rural competitions on the green, this was goose herding which was followed by duck herding…

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And it ends up with a traditional travelling fairground in the fields, our boys are nearly too big for most of the rides now but they enjoyed this one.

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So after that it was back to work. As most of you know by now, I work in home fragrance and this week I had to have my ‘nose’ tested which was fascinating. It’s important that it is trained in any weak areas because not only am I steering product development, but we also produce home fragrance for some very (very) high end luxury brands, so I need to know my chypres from my fougères. I feel quite nervous about the results….

Anyhow it’s been a productive week, I’ve appointed a new right hand woman, a new web agency and I had another injection in my shoulder which has reduced the ongoing pain that I’m living with, although sadly it hasn’t eliminated it. I’m finishing with a work outfit from yesterday, it’s still very cold here despite the sunshine so I’ve been trying to wear Spring colours rather than Spring clothes. Here’s a topical moment as I went to cast my vote – blimey that was a surprise result wasn’t it – enough said!

Casual outfits

Boden Ingrid coat; Boden cashmere cardigan; Boden Bistro crops; Whistles shoes; J Crew necklace.

And without the coat.

Casual outfits

Have a brilliant weekend everybody – I’m sorry I haven’t responded to comments and emails for the last 10 days, thank you for persisting with me, I’ll be onto it this weekend I promise, so don’t give up on me – keep in touch.