A Special Day

Some of the very best days out are those that come together at the very last minute don't you think? No great plans, just 'wouldn't it be a good idea to...?' and a happy agreement between friends. At work on Wednesday, four of us decided that we didn't want to spend Thursday shopping, ironing, cooking, cleaning. Instead, we quickly planned a girls day out, just for ourselves. No men, no children, no deadlines. Just four people who have known each other for many years deciding to play hookey for a whole day. After a panic and a dash to meet one friend at the railway station we took a leisurely twenty minute train journey to meet another companion waiting to drive us to our destination...Coughton Court. In the car we chatted, put the world to rights, oohed and aahed at the pretty Warwickshire cottages we passed on the way and relaxed in a way that we don't get to do very often. We met up with the fourth member of our party at Coughton, our little group ready to leave our cares behind to enjoy the glorious sunshine in a magical place.




We took advantage of an introductory talk about the house and wandered round the house at our leisure, delighting in its serene beauty.








By the time we had finished walking around the house we all felt we deserved some lunch in the tea room. There was much carrot cake, cheesecake and coffee and walnut cake consumed, along with several pots of tea drained and continued chatter and laughter. Once we had rested we then took a long walk across the fields to explore the bluebell wood - it was so worth it. Just look at the mass of colour here. The photographs really don't do it justice.







Then it was back to the main area of the house to walk discover Lady Throckmorton's private gardens. It was just my favourite sort of garden, with a series of walled gardens, each with a different theme. It was wonderful to grasp the lavender between our fingers and smell its glorious scent.







Before we came home there was time to talk a sedate walk around the lake, watching the wildlife and the sun glistening on the water.







Then of course it was time to begin a weary journey home, a little less chatter this time. Probably because we were thinking of all that shopping, ironing, cooking, cleaning...waiting for us today.

Easter Weekend

I didn't intend to be away from my blog for so long and have I missed it! This last week has been so busy, with Josh being on holiday, visiting the in-laws on Easter Sunday and a couple of nice days out with Rob. We've also been having quotes for a new bathroom and kitchen which has taken time and me ending up getting fidgety about having people in the house trying to impose their ideas on me. I keep getting asked stupid questions like 'why do you like belfast sinks?'. I get the feeling that just because I live in a small terraced house, with a small kitchen that I should have the cheapest kitchen with the crappiest materials! Is it me? I am odd? Do you always get the third degree because you like something that is a little more unusual?

Anyway, I am a bit late really showing our little efforts at decorating for Easter but I refuse to be left out so here are our little bits and bobs. They didn't take much time and certainly no skill but I love Easter as much as I hate Christmas, so we always have to have a few bits and pieces about.





We had a great day on Friday. Years ago, we used to visit Hay-on-Wye a couple of times a year, but it must have been around fifteen years since our last visit to the festival to see my screen hero Dirk Bogarde. Anyhow, we decided it was time to visit once again, so the picnic was duly packed and we set off on the journey that took us through Leominster before we finally got to Hay. Hay has always been famous for its huge amount of bookshops and was the initial attraction for us both as book lovers but I have to say that the whole shopping experience has improved since we last went there and there is now a really good selectioon of shops for professional shoppers like me. I make no apologies for the number of photos of shops that follow! Yep. Friday was a shopping fest, I'm a shopaholic and I love it. I don't want to be cured thank you! If you want a closer peek in any of the shop windows, just enlarge the pics for a better view.

The Green Room was full of loveliness for your garden and even had its own little yard packed full of goodness.







I did get a couple of repro bargains from here.





Lots of French vintage goodies in here.



Some Bridgewatery goodness in here.



Some more antiques in here.



The greengrocer in our town doesn't look like this.



I thought this shop looked very inviting



and this shop gets regular mentions in Country Living, Period Living etc.







Of course the town does a have a few bookshops.







Good places to eat and stay.





Rob and Josh indulged themselves in some goodies.



and so did I.







I hope you enjoyed your trip to Hay with us as I don't think we will be going very far away from home today. At eight-thirty this morning the sky was black and only lit up as the lightning streaked across the sky and the thunder rumbled ominously. I think today might be the day for making those little cornflake nests that I should have made last week.

New Things

It's the first day of the Easter holidays and for obvious reasons I've not been able to get to the computer until two o'clock this afternoon. Josh has finally got off X Box Live, into his Guns N Roses t-shirt, jeans with holes in the knees and took himself off to the park with friends. I've done the usual trawl around the shops this morning and for the first time in ages the charity shops have been really exciting.

These cups are so pretty and springlike that I really couldn't leave them in the shop.




These little plates will look great used with them and they only cost one pound twenty -five, what a bargain.




This little cup cost almost as much as the other four - it seems very lady-like and refined rather than cottagey like the others. I can imagine Jane Austen drinking from something similar in an elegant Bath drawing room.



I love books, I work with them and I've had a book by my bedside for most of my life and there are occasions when I do judge them by their cover. This was so attractive and its spine was just as lovely that I knew it had to come back home with me. The book plate inside says that the book was presented in 1897 to Harriet Hinton by Lye Primitive Methodist Sunday School for 'Early and Regular Attendance'. I would love to have have seen dear Harriet in her Sunday best off to church and I wonder if she fidgeted whilst she sat in the church pew just as my son did over a hundred years later. Josh won a trophy for regular attendance at church from his Beaver troop several years ago. As an seven year old he was very proud to see his name engraved on the trophy, just as I imagine Harriet was when she received her Sunday School prize.



This week has been a good one for buying things. I bought a camera case



and a funky tote bag, both from Jo over at Jojo Designs. This is me with it on Tuesday evening just as I've arrived home from work to discover a parcel packed with this piece of scrumptiousness.



The camera case is so lovely compared to the usual black cases we see and I shall look forward to using it on holiday in a few weeks time. I intend using the bag on our wonderful trips to my favourite towns but I couldn't resist using it today - well it is magazine day - and my Period Living and Country Homes deserve better than a plastic bag.

Mandy at LiveLaughLove at Jo at JoJo Designs have both given me awards this week. I've just tried to upload both of them but either Blogger or Picasa doesn't like them at the minute. So thank-you ladies very much for your awards, I really appreciate them. I will try to upload them another time when the computer isn't frustrating me.

We're off to the folk club this evening to see Flaxenby and then if the weather's o.k. we'll spend the weekend tidying the garden. Have a good one everyone.

Friday

It's been the usual routine this morning. A walk into town to finish off the weekly shopping. I don't really enjoy food shopping, it's just a chore but there is always the added attraction of doing the circuit of the charity shops in anticipation of finding a treasure I didn't know I needed. None found today mind you. The town is a little depressing at the moment with lots of empty shops and only the very basic shops still thriving. No individuality left here at all. These cheery Tesco/Cath Kidston bags do make the shop a little more pleasurable though and are usually admired by the ladies on the checkouts in Waitrose. Poor Mr Funky. We don't have a Tesco in town, so he had to drive me to the nearest large store so that I could complete the collection! I dread to think how much they all cost. Still - I am helping the environment aren't I?




I was tempted and succumbed to this sweet little tin of Redbush Rooibos tea. This stuff seems to be breeding on the shelves. There are loads of different packages containing this South African tea. Is it because of the influence of Precious Ramotswe and the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency? Or I have I only noticed it because watching it has become my Sunday evening replacement for niceness and decency since the end of Lark Rise to Candleford? Anyway, I'm intrigued and I'm going to give it a whirl. Naturally, I couldn't buy a cardboard packet - I couldn't resist the little tin (my one weakness). So now there's another tin to add to the ever growing collection in my tiny kitchen.




As I picked up the post I noticed a new Bridgewater catalogue in amongst the brown envelopes and general junk. Just the thing to browse with a cup of coffee. Not a lot of newness in there but as usual it's beautifully photographed and I don't need an excuse to share some Bridgewater loveliness with you.




Spots

Birds



Happiness



and all round general loveliness.



Perhaps I should have used a mug like the picture above to display some of my daffs. Quite a bargain I think - three jugs filled for two pounds.



Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend. Keep warm - it's going to be a cold one.