Then Gracie and I headed out for a walk. At Harryville bridge we ran into a fellow dog walker, though on this occasion he was without dog and had obviously spent some time in the pub. He kept us chatting awhile. We eventually made our excuses and trotted on down Railway Street, over Stick Bridge and down towards the river past the old squash courts. This is when it started raining. We walked on and did our usual walk, despite the lashing rain. At some point I regretted that I was wearing jeans and not waterproof trousers, at another point I realised that my walking boots were letting in water. I congratulated myself on choosing a marvellous raincoat as my top half was the only part of me that was dry when I got home. Gracie was so wet Dave thought she had been swimming.

But the leaking boots are a problem. Especially as I am heading off to Scotland next weekend for a week involving a lot of walking.

Internet shopping: a blessing and a curse.

I have been buying craft supplies and photography gear. D pointed out that it was rediculous having all these different parcels arrive, so now it is time to mend my ways. And I hope that I will inspire D too! (No more new cars Mister!)

One of his points was the distance that some of the stuff has travelled. I have ordered clothing from US and film from Vienna. I am planning on ordering yarn from New Zealand (as I cannot locate the same stuff locally).

So here is where I change my ways –

I will not buy anything online (apart from our groceries) during the month of September.
I will not buy any new clothing during September (secondhand is okay). I will take inspiration from Wardrobe Refashion.
I will not buy any new yarn during September.

Right, better get busy buying all the stuff I need before the end of the month…

…only joking!

So a quick recap of my weekend. On Saturday Hannah and I went to Belfast on a shopping trip. First we went to St George’s Market where cakes and coffee were purchased. Then we went to Topshop. I think we may have been in Topshop for about an hour and a half which is impressive considering it is small in comparison to Oxford Street, where a couple of hours could easily be lost. One thing I learnt is that you definately cannot take photos in Topshop, even if they are of your sister. I thought it was just the clothes you weren’t allowed to photograph, in case you got your mate to come in and nick them for you later.

Anyway, a few more shops and then on to Primark which is full of crazy people carrying large piles of clothes and saying things like -

I’m a leggings-aholic!!! I’ve got 6 different pairs!!!!!

The legging equivalent of ‘I’m mad me!’

Primark is, in case you have never experienced it, a shop with masses of cheap clothes piled into cloth mountains and with hundreds of bargain hunters all trying to get at the stacks of clothes, which then get flung around the store and where finding something you like in your size is nearly impossible. It is, quite simply, a mess.

Hannah and I reminisced about concerts and festivals we have been to. There was one that I slept through after drinking wine, though we can’t recall who it was we were there to see. Some things I remembered, some I don’t. How we missed most of Glastonbury when we went because we were so overwhelmed by the place. When we got back to London Ganching raved about all the cool things that she had seen on the television footage, things which we missed!

I don’t recall seeing Kylie Minogue at Feile but I did, apparently.