Ashbourne and the Tissington Trail

Yesterday hubby and I had a really lovely day out together. On a rare occasion we had both booked Monday as leave and there’s nothing quite like a Monday off work is there? Anyway, our purpose was to go on a photography trip. Hubby as many of you will know is a professional photographer, and I myself am a keen photographer (although I don’t practice my hobby as much as I could). For about a week we’ve been tooing and froing as to where we would go, which just lead to us being really disorganised by the time Monday came around and deciding, virtually Monday morning, on a location in Peak District; the Tissington trail. The sun was blazing though and so we decided that rather than go early we would go in the afternoon so that hopefully we would catch the early evening sunlight on whatever subject we would find.


We left the house around lunchtime and began our drive north. I love road trips with hubby, we have such fun singing along to songs and talking rubbish and Monday’s road trip was no exception. Hubby’s been under a lot of stress lately what with work announcements and all that, so it was really nice just to see him let go and have fun again. By the time we were getting close to our destination it was still far too early to begin taking photographs, so I spotted a little town on the map, ‘Ashbourne’ and suggested that we pull over to explore and perhaps get some lunch. Ashbourne, it turns out, is a sweet little market town made up of little more than antique shops, charity shops and a handful of pubs. We were no sooner out of the car before I realised I was in charity shop heaven and little more than 10 minutes into our exploration of Ashbourne I had stumbled on this beautiful 1970s orange suede bag for an absolute steal.

With rumbling bellies we made it to the market square, bordered with a selection of pubs serving food. We opted for the Old Vaults Pub at the bottom of the square, where people were sat outside eating what looked like hearty meals. The 2 meals for £10 offer was too good to pass up, so hubby had lovely fish and chips while I opted for steak pie and mash. The food was filling and tasted delicious and it wasn’t long before we were heading off with happy full bellies to do more exploring. Along the main road was antique shop after antique shop; many of them selling huge pieces of furniture or art work. We stumbled upon one or two selling nick nacs, and one which was particularly highly priced. If my compact collection had relied on that shop I certainly wouldn’t have one. Before leaving we made it to the Oxfam bookshop where I was thrilled to find a book I had been after for a long time, Millers Collecting the 1950s, again for a bargain.

Image borrowed from Amazon.co.uk

I’ve been really lucky in charity shops this weekend what with the day’s purchases and the lovely shoes I found in one in Coventry on Saturday.

Shoes number 14

Once it started approaching 4pm we had our last cup of tea in a delightful tea room which also sold antiquities, and then set off for the beginning of the Tissington trail, just outside of town.

Kitted up with plenty of water and our SLRs we began the trail, 2 miles to Thorpe, 3.5 miles to Tissington. The trail was a bit disappointing. Neither of us had researched it properly, and the trail is one long lane, bordered each side by trees and shrubbery and with only glimpses of the landscape and the local cattle every now and again, nothing worth photographing at all. We pressed on though, hoping that we’d get to Thorpe and find some quaint little town with an abundance of photo opportunities. We walked, and walked… and walked some more hoping that Thorpe would be just around each bend, but it must have been 2 country miles, since an hour later we had not reached the village. With a change in the weather pressing in, any good light for photographs had gone and we decided to turn back towards the car. By this time both hubby and I were suffering very itchy eyes, sneezing and congestion from the nettles lining the pathway and with the hours walk back to the car we were getting worse. Finally we arrived and packed everything back into the car, but I was keen that I still wanted to see Tissington.

Driving, the village was only about 15 minutes away, although the winding roads made it look like significantly more than 3.5 miles. Finally we arrived in the beautiful village with its stone built church and houses, village pond complete with ducks and stereotypical appearance of an English country village. Everywhere was closed though and the village was silent so we turned the car and set off for home. Just before leaving though we found the most interesting hollowed out tree, which neither of us could resist having our photographs taken in the trunk of. (Excuse my hobbit stance I was afraid there might be spiders in there)

It’s hard to believe that this precarious tree is still standing since surely a good gale would blow it over.

The journey home was as quick as the journey to the Peaks, one good thing about living in the Midlands I guess. Despite not having managed to take any photographs, and despite us both suffering severe effects of hayfever (hubby worse than myself I might add), we both agreed that we had a really nice day out. Ashbourne was a lovely town that we would definitely visit again, although we might do it en route to a better researched Peak District walk. The best thing though, as always, was getting to spend time together without the distractions of the real world.

The race for Life - Stratford

Today, a few of my friends and I took part in the Race for Life at Stratford Race Course to raise money for Cancer Research. It was a lovely day, if not a tad too hot for running. Nonetheless we all finished, I myself powerwalking the majority of the course thanks to a painful pulled hip. Nonetheless I still came in at a respectable 46.55 minutes for 5KM. I took part in my fairy wings and was careful this time to cover my head and put plenty of sunscreen on, so no burns or sunstroke to report thankfully. The friends who I took part with all finished in under 40 minutes.

Me and my fairy wings

Some images from the day.

My Medal

I'm sure you will agree that it's a really worthy cause that we've given our time for today, and the good news is that it's not too late to donate if you haven't already. There is a box/button/link in my right hand tool bar. Please follow that to donate, any amount is gratefully received as we'd love to make it to the £400 mark. 

A Penny Saved.....

... is a penny to squander on a new dress!


I think you’ll probably all agree, that with George Osbourne’s rather draconian budget announcement on Tuesday the whole nation is probably in for a period of significant austerity. I wonder if that make do and mend, dig for victory mentality of the war years will start to reappear with more vigour than it even has been during these recessionary times.

Anyway, in preparation for the frugal living that I’m sure we’re all going to have to sign up to in the very near future, I’ve been making the most this week of the things I can enjoy for free.

These have included:

Sitting in the dappled sunlight by the pond at the front of my office, to enjoy my lunchtime sandwiches.

A free book I picked up off the book crossing shelf at work (I must remember to put one back in exchange), an appropriate title too I thought.

A wander through the beautiful Cathedral ruins on a hot summers day

Free transport to work

A meander around the free arts council exhibition at the Herbert Art Gallery in my lunch hour, including works by Tracy Emin and Gilbert and George.

Flying the Flag

For a while now I've been seeing these glorious shabby chic Union Jack cushions everywhere, and they aren't cheap. Anyway, I decided to make my own, I ordered some fat quarters from eBay and have been working on it for about 2 weeks, although in my defence I did nothing on it for about 4 days. Anyway, I finished it last night, and I'm very pleased with the result. Here it is for your viewing pleasure, made by my own fair hands.

And below is the cushion in situ.

Peace and Happiness

I've had a fairly relaxed weekend in all. I often find that the weekend before payday is relaxed but that's usually because I don't have enough money to do anything not relaxed. Anyway, I'm sure you don't want to read all about how much month is left at the end of my paycheck, I'm sure you'd much sooner read about the nice weekend I've had.

Yesterday was pretty chilled, well it was for me... not so really for hubby but I won't go into that here. I popped to town with my mum to kill a few hours. I ended up spending a fair bit in the charity shop bagging myself a great diesel belt, a brass bangle, a lovely floral top (I'm all about florals at the moment) and a couple of other bits and pieces. Aside from that we just cruised around the shops, taking in the Debenhams sale, were I opted to buy a much needed new bra and a few other shops too. It wasn't long before hubby came into town and killed the last hour with us. Thanks to having a mini the lift home consisted of a double run, but Mum and I were content to kill time over a pint while we waited for hubby to come back.

Saturday evening it was just hubby and I... which doesn't happen all that often. We enjoyed the time to ourselves by indulging in a massive curry and settling down to watch The Omen (the original one) on DVD. I know I've seen the Omen before, but I think I've nodded off before too... so this was the first time that I'd seen it from start to finish. I really enjoyed it.

Sunday Outfit Shot: Sandals - Earth Mother; Dress - Unknown; Belt - Primark; Bag - Florence and Fred

Today was a really lovely day and definitely the highlight of my weekend. It was bright and sunny for a start, but also I was looking forward to heading over to Leamington to meet up with the lovely Roisin at the peace festival. Hubby and I collected Mum on the way over since she'd never been to the peace festival, and we were all over in Leamington by the early afternoon. When we arrived there was a definite buzz about the field, it was packed, the sun was out, the band was playing. It was such a great atmosphere, and as luck would have it we went in right by a vintage clothes stall. There are lots off stalls at the peace festival, it combines the best of everything really... anyway, back to the vintage stall. I've been looking on eBay for a vintage maxi dress for a while, so I was pleased to see several hanging up. There wasn't a changing room so I did my usual uncouth thing of throwing the dresses on over the dress I was already wearing. The first one I tried on I thought looked fabulous on the hanger, blue crimpelene with floral details, but when it was on it was really tight around the neck making me red in the few seconds I had it on. Just as I was giving up hope though I spotted something I could only describe as a Margo Leadbetter dress. the blue, yellow and green creation with it's wonderful pattern, long sleeves and full length skirt is a fabulous example of late 1960s/ early 1970s fashion and as soon as I threw it on I was attached to it. I tried to bargain with the stallholder, but in the end she could see I loved it and she got her full £15... and it's worth every penny. My Mum has taken it home to clean it for me since she's so much better with these things than me, I can't wait to wear it somewhere and get you a photograph.

Anyway, with my purchase in hand and having had a little browse of the other stalls we set off to find Roisin. It wasn't difficult, I was carrying a green parasol and they could spot me a mile off. Roisin is always so welcoming and everyone budged around the rug on the ground to let me, hubby and Mum sit down. I got to meet Roisin's lovely chap, and her equally lovely friend while we all appreciated the music being played by the band. For the next few hours that rug acted as base camp, groups of us would wander off to get beer, get munchies, browse the stalls etc... and then all return to the rug. It was so nice and there was such an air of laid back enjoyment and friendliness. I don't want to get all soppy, but it really was nice. Unfortunately stupid old me had forgotten to put any sun cream on. As the afternoon bore on I started to feel a bit tired and oppressed by the heat of the sun, despite being under my parasol. We decided to leave and it wasn't until we were in the car that Mum noticed that I'd burned my shoulders. I felt so silly, it's really not something I'm in the habit of doing. Nonetheless it didn't put the dampners on the really lovely day we all had at the Leamington Peace festival... it's just a shame that all I have to look forward to know is work tomorrow... see if I hadn't forgotten to buy a lottery ticket on Saturday I could be looking forward to something else... I don't know what but something.

New Hair

Just a quick blog post because I wanted to show you all my new hair do that I had done last night. It was inspired by the Bettie Page hairdo and I love it!

Before

After

By the way, if you are looking for an absolute handbag bargain I've just listed a bundle of 7 handbags (yes 7) including a beautiful Kipling, on eBay for a starting price of £48.00! Check out the listing here.

About a Boy - Nick Hornby

The other day I finished reading another of Nick Hornby’s books; About a Boy. I’m sure you have all seen the film with Hugh Grant in, and admittedly it’s pretty difficult to read the book without seeing Hugh Grant in the role of Will. Nonetheless this is another extremely well written, witty look at social issues which could otherwise be dull. This seems to be a real gift with Hornby, as I mentioned before with my review of Juliet Naked, he seems to have this talent to explore issues such as depression, bullying and failure of relationships without making the reader sink to the depths of despair.

I won’t go through the plot in length as you probably know it already, but basically Marcus is a 12 year old boy who has moved to London with his mother due to the breakdown of his mother and fathers relationship. His Mum has depression and Marcus is a bit of an outsider, bullied and generally getting a hard time at his new school. He befriends the unlikely role model of Will, friendships are forged, relationships developed and everyone seems to come out of the other end a little bit more normal.

This is a great coming of age story which reaffirmed my view that Hornby is a fantastic writer. It was easy to read, with the odd chuckle along the way and I can’t wait to move onto my next Hornby. If you haven’t read this book already I would really recommend it.

What's in my bag?

I was tagged to take part in the 'what's in my bag?' by the lovely Roisin and like Roisin this is my first time to be tagged by such a thing too. I enjoyed it though so I hope you do too.

Firstly my bag. It's a Radley picture bag which was bought for me by hubby a couple of christmasses ago. It's great as it holds so much and is really unusual not to mention well made.

Top row: Stratton cigarette case that I use to hold my business cards; 1950s stratton powder compact, with powder in of course; my crappy work phone.

Second row: Tin of mints, lippy and my diary which I've stuck crappy gemstones too... because I like to do things like that.

No, that's not a ration book, it's my notebook. I often carry a notebook with me and if I get any creative ideas I jot them down... I have 2 this is my generally creative notebook and I have another which is specifically for photography ideas. My car keys with my fabulous voodoo doll keyring and the red spotty thing is a fold up shopper.

My hairbrush; my wonderfully practical purse. I have some really pretty purses but I always come back to this Aquascutum number because it fits all my loyalty cards and receipts in. The wasp-eze is something I don't leave home without in the summer months because I am like a wasp attracting beacon, seriously I get stung every year I've been stung about 20 times and the last time was in the neck on a day trip to Stratford... most unpleasant!

My homemade pen case which contains my Mont Blanc pencil, that was a treat to myself for passing my masters. My bag hook, to keep my lovely bag off smelly floors, my mobile phone and my sunglasses which I carry with me a lot because I get migraines.

My umbrella and some samaritans purse shoebox appeal leaflets I was given on Sunday at church. There, so now you've seen the contents of my bag... and I think I'm a hypochondriac who carries too much junk lol.

Now, the three people I am going to tag to take part in this are:

Vintage Vixen

Helga Von Trollop

Marie at Vintage Inspired Lovelies

Shoe Challeng Outfit #6 - Airmiles

Shoes - Van Dahl; Skirt - Betty Barclay (via charity shop); Jacket - Benny Ong (via Charity shop); Top - Kaliko (swapped)

Having finished my jacket alterations at the weekend, and luckily stumbling across a beautiful Betty Barclay red pencil skirt in a charity shop too I was eager to get the outfit on as soon as possible. It was always intended to be a work outfit, so I wore it to the office this morning and received a pretty good reception. I had only been in the office a few minutes when I received some compliments on my outfit and only one person (aside from hubby) mentioned the words British Airways. I have to say though, even if I do look like an air hostess, I don’t really care for a couple of reasons;

1. I actually think that air hostesses are very smart and well turned out and therefore that makes this a very work appropriate outfit;
2. I love this outfit, and therefore just do not care lol.


Aside from making a good combined outfit, I think these are very versatile separates so I expect to be putting them into a fair few combinations.

Now ladies and gentlemen… please remain seated as the in flight entertainment is about to commence.

Vintage Benny Ong Jacket

You may remember from my holiday blog last month that I mentioned I had found a lovely vintage Benny Ong jacket in a charity shop, with the labels still on it. Despite the fact it was a gorgeous 1980s does 1950s creation, there were just a few things I had to do to this jacket to make it wearable, and I finally got round to doing these Friday evening. See the before and after shots below. I recently found a gorgeous red pencil skirt in another charity shop and I think this combo is going to make a delightful work outfit.

Before

After

What I did:

• 
  
  Remove shoulder pads;
• 
  
  Remove old buttons and replace with brass nautical buttons;
• 
  
  Extend the short sleeves with a white contrast edging to match the lapel.

Shoe Challenge Outfit #5 - Mucha

Shoes - Unknown; Bag - Faith; Dress - Vintage; Headband - Muse

Tuesday evening it was my lovely bosses retirement do at Bar Eden in Coventry. I'm really sad to see my boss go, he's been such a rock and I'd have never even embarked on my masters without him, let alone finished it. Anyway, it was a lovely laid back evening and I took the opportunity to wear my latest vintage purchase, the dress I bought at the vintage fair a couple of weeks back. I'm going to refer to this as my Mucha dress since the pattern is full of Mucha type ladies and fruit. I love it, it could be my current favourite.

I thought I'd also take the opportunity to show you shoes number 13, which were at the cobblers when I did my original shoe challenge post. I'm currently breaking them in as I type because despite the fact that they are vintage, they don't appear to have had that much wear.

Bally vintage 'Alexis' shoes

Mum's Birthday

This weekend was lovely; we were celebrating my Mum’s birthday. I spent Friday evening baking a birthday cake; Mum had requested a strawberry Victoria sponge, which I find is always a simple cake to make. I finished it off Saturday with the cream (including a little tip from Caroline) and strawberries and then Saturday afternoon hubby, me and my step-son popped up to her house with cake and presents. We didn’t stay very long, hubby needed to go to TKMaxx to see if he could find a shirt for the night out, so after we’d all pottered along there, and hubby had come away with a rather lovely floral shirt by Diesel, we went home to start getting ready.

I had such a lot to fit into a small amount of time, and having bathed I had to fix a new zip to a dress that Mum had bought me in the winter, but I had broken the zip out of a couple of months back. I’m so lazy that I left it until I needed it to go out in before I fixed it. I had intended to wear the vintage dress which I’d bought at the vintage fair a couple of weeks back, but that dress is polyester and it was awfully hot on Saturday night, so I didn’t think it was a good idea.

Shoes - Pineapple; Dress - Topshop (gift); Bag - Coast

My lovely Mum

My lovely hubby in his gorgeous new Diesel shirt

Anyway, we all got spruced up, the step children got picked up by their Mum and off hubby and I went to collect Mum and go to Bella Italia. It was lovely there, we had a table reserved and they’d put balloons on it too because it was a birthday. It was so busy and the place was buzzing. The food was delicious and the service was good, although our lovely waitress seemed really surprised that she was getting a tip… I wonder if people don’t tip even if the service is good?! Anyway, by the time we were leaving, feeling very full, there was a huge queue of people lining up outside the door to get in; it seems to have really got popular.

We walked to nearby Spon Street and to the Windmill pub for a quick drink. In there we found a little nook to sit in. We took some photographs in the pub, and then set off for our next, and final stop, Carey’s.

Me looking all vintage in the pub.

Mum and I had been to Carey’s the week before, and had arrived equally early; it was great as we were able to get the exact same comfortable sofas again this time in an area that’s a little elevated and almost feels like a VIP lounge. The band was great and Mum was having a really good time. We all got up to dance for a few numbers, but it was so hot that moving just made you sweat. They were a really good band and the place was buzzing with lots of people. We had great fun people watching (and outfit commenting) as we often do. By 1am we were heading home, tired and full and having had a really good night.



Sunday morning we were up fairly early as Mum wanted to go to Bicester village to spend her birthday money. Its ages since we’ve been shopping there, and I was surprised to see that there are lots of new shops there. In fact it’s got so large that we didn’t even get to one end of the village. Once we arrived hubby separated from us to go and went to look in ‘man’ shops, he hates being dragged around looking at expensive handbags all day, which is usually what me and Mum do when we are together. I was, however, pleased that he had done this because everyone else’s husbands or significant others seemed to just hover in front of the very clothing rails I wanted to get to. Anyway, we went in so many of the shops and I think that Bicester has gotten pretty expensive… I’m sure there were more bargains to be had before when I used to go. In particular I was searching for shoes for one of my best friend’s weddings later this year, but every pair that was suitable in colour and price weren’t in my size. I was adamant I wanted to get to Cath Kidston (I love Cath Kidston), and I’m glad I did as that was the only place I made any purchases. I bought a lovely floral wash bag which now houses all of the toiletries which were cluttering up my chest of drawers, and a new bib for a very good friend of mine who is about to give birth to her second child. Mum came away with a mustard coloured handbag from Clarks and a Smythson notebook and hubby, despite his frustrations with the village, came away with a nice denim shirt from Fat Face. We had spent the whole day at Bicester and it seemed like hard work. We left tired, and almost wet just beating the downpour.



We were home by early evening and I was gutted because the dress I had wore lastnight was out on the line and therefore soaked, nevermind. Mum had a lovely birthday weekend, and hubby and I had a lovely time celebrating it with her. We spent a chilled evening reading and watching TV and before we knew it it was time to get ready for work again. The weekend passes so quickly.

Liverpool

As promised, here is my blog about Liverpool.

I love Bank Holidays! It’s like a free day, and extra day added to your life where you can experience something more exciting than work. There should be more of them. This Bank Holiday hubby and I decided to pay a visit to a city we’ve always wanted to go to, Liverpool.

We were up seriously early on Monday morning to catch our train, and it ended up being a really hectic morning where we were running for the train, which we missed, and then had to get a different train luckily still making our connection at Birmingham New Street. It was quite a leisurely 2 hour journey up to Liverpool. I really enjoy going on the train, more so perhaps than driving to destinations where one person is deep in concentration on the road, traffic holds you up and then the added hassle of finding parking. When you drive everywhere you forget what a welcome respite the train is, the 2 hour journey flew by as me and hubby chatted and larked about the whole way there.

We arrived in Liverpool shortly after 10am, and before the shops were open. The city was quiet and as soon as we were out of the station there was evidence of the impressive architecture. We asked a man in the street for directions to the legendary Cavern club, and he was so friendly that we ended up having a discussion about his injured hand. We set off through the quiet streets of the town centre in search of the Cavern, and stopped off at the Beatles shop on the way. The Cavern is located in what could be described as a back street, but it’s apparent that this area is the heart of Liverpool’s’ nightlife, pubs and clubs lined every street and many of them paid more than a nod to the Beatles. We reached the Cavern. It was closed. It wasn’t too bad though because there was a sign up saying that there was an all day music festival on there which would start at 12:30, so we took our photographs outside and set off to do some more sightseeing.

We followed the signs to the Albert Dock, which was very impressive. Large historical buildings lined the roads while areas of the dock lay still reflecting the interesting and varied architecture that surrounded it. We didn’t have time to explore the docklands properly, but I was adamant that I wanted to see the world famous Liver building. Seeing the impressive stature of the building took both mine and hubby’s breath away. It’s imposing white façade looms down on you in the street whilst the enormous Liver bird sits on top like some prehistoric bird of prey waiting to swoop down and carry off unsuspecting tourists. It was so large we had to cross the road to take a photograph, and really is worth every bit of its grade I listing.

Having been impressed by the dockland architecture, we set off towards the famous Cathedral. You’ve probably realised by now that I’m mad on cathedral architecture, I love visiting them. I loved going before I was with hubby even, mum and I would visit cathedral cities purely to see the cathedrals, and I’ve seen a few impressive European ones too including the Duomo in Florence, and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, you would think then that I would have been aware that Liverpool’s’ cathedral is the largest in England and the 5th largest in Europe. We soon realised why when we could see it from the dock. From the dock it was one hell of an uphill walk to get to the cathedral and all the time it seemed to be hidden from our view, how could we lose something so big? Eventually, red faced and with aching legs, we reached the cathedral only to find that there was an organ recital going on and we couldn’t get in yet. We walked around the side of the building instead, all the time in awe of the great stature, and found the restaurant where we sat outside with some delicious and well priced food. I had something called ‘Cathedral Scouse’ which is a beautiful stew, filled with lamb and potatoes, where hubby stuck to fajitas. Finishing our lovely early lunch, we went round to the tower for the trip to the top to look out over Liverpool. Thankfully the tower has lifts, 2 of them, plus a further 108 steps to get you to the top. On the way up you get to see the bells and the bolts which hold the chandeliers in place and you really do realise what a feat of engineering these buildings are. Finally we reached the top, where it felt like we were stood on top of the world. As you peer out not only can you see Liverpool in its entirety, and the sea in the distance, but look south and you can see the Welsh mountains too. Apparently on a clear day it’s particularly clear, and it’s particularly awe inspiring. It’s also a great view of ‘Paddy’s wigwam’ the impressive modern Catholic cathedral which lies close by. Once we’d got back down the tower and had a short wander around the inside of the cathedral we set off on another pilgrimage to the Catholic cathedral. Although it was impressive, it could never match the main cathedral for its imposing architecture. The Catholic one was far more modernistic, which lots of modern sculptural designs inside which were much more akin to the modern Coventry cathedral. There was impressive clever use of stained glass which created almost neon like effects, and whilst the other cathedral was on the whole more impressive, this one could not be discounted. Also, because it was less busy it felt far more relaxing and more spiritual as a result.

The day was passing quickly and afternoon had snuck upon us. We headed back to the Cavern club, but found a delightful boutique on the way. They sold such wonderful quirky clothes, cardigans which fabulous designs all over the back and all sorts.

Before we knew it we were descending the many flights of stairs down into the legendary Cavern club. Inside it was fabulous, all little archways and nooks, really like being under the city. People were having their photographs taken on the very stage where the Beatles played, and of course we had to too. There were bands on, which just made the atmosphere even better so we bought a beer and sat down to soak it all in. It’s such a tourist attraction; you can see that people come from all over the world just to go to the bar where the Beatles started their career, and why not. Throughout the city you can see that the Liverpudlians are a proud race. Not just proud of the Beatles, and the other famous people that have come out of the city, but of the city itself. It’s a pride I don’t think I’ve ever seen before, and it was really refreshing.

After the Cavern club it was time to hit the shops… namely the vintage shops. My friend had told me that the city was littered with them, and we were keen to find them with the short amount of time we had left. We managed to get to several of them, but unfortunately the one we really wanted to get to was closed because it was bank holiday. Some of the other shops were nice though. We didn’t buy any vintage items on this occasion, but hubby did buy a lovely new cap. I definitely think we need a return trip to Liverpool with more time for the vintage shops.

At around 5ish we crawled back to the train station. Our feet hurt, our backs hurt and we were as tired as could possibly be. We bought magazines to read on the train, but I ended up falling asleep only a few pages into Country Living. We had a thoroughly enjoyable day, and I’d recommend Liverpool to anyone looking for an alternative to visiting London.

Night out, Newark and Marilyn moments

I really have not stopped this weekend, since going out for drinks with my cousin on Friday night; it’s been fun all the way. Subsequently I have loads to tell you about, but I don’t want you to lose the will to live so I thought I’d break my weekend down into two posts for easier digestion.


Saturday we popped up to visit the inlaws, like we do most Saturday mornings for a catch up and a cup of tea, before I headed into town for a meander with Mum. It wasn’t exciting shopping, I just needed to pick up a few things, a couple of which I still managed to forget. Saturday night though Mum and I decided we would pop out to a local club, Careys’ for a few drinks. It had been such a miserable day in terms of the weather though that I was torn over what to wear. I plumped to stick with my new favoured 1950s look, this time wearing a dress which doesn't get as much wear as it should. (shoe challenge outfit number 5).

Shoes - Pineapple; Bag - Vintage; Dress - Gift (Jasmine Guiness); Hair clip - Via (see last post)

We were early at Carey’s, kindly dropped off by hubby, and although there weren’t many people there, it allowed us to nab the best seats. Once the band came on the place really filled up, and really started to buzz. I even ran into some cousins, which was nice. It was nice to go into town at night with my Mum as she’s not been in such a long time what with all her illness last year and that, so I love to see her enjoying herself they way she did Saturday night. We left by about 1am having had a really good night.

Sunday, hubby and I were up bright and early as we’d been invited by some of hubby’s friends to a beer festival in Newark, Nottinghamshire. I hadn’t met the couple before. We arrived in Newark during the late morning, having accidentally taken a particularly long route to get there, and found that it was a delightful, quaint little market town. With a castle and a great deal of history it is some what reminiscent of Warwick, or even Tewkesbury.

Newark Castle and the River Trent

I hit it off straight away with hubby’s friends, who are a really lovely couple. We went to a great little café opposite the castle and ate a gorgeous breakfast, which was just what I needed after the alcohol I ingested the night before, and the drive there. Then we walked through the castle grounds and to the beer festival. Alas, when I had got dressed that morning I hadn’t accounted for weather conditions. My poppy dress seems to have an awful lot of material in the skirt, it was very windy, and I know for a fact that I inadvertently flashed a driver as I crossed the road, and maybe half a dozen other people too as my dress provided me with one Marilyn moment after another… not really the first impression I wanted to make, but thankfully our friends were very laid back and saw the funny side. Note to self, the poppy dress is not for windy weather!

Pumps - Primark; Bag - Vintage; Dress - Fever (the flasher dress); Belt - Unknown

At the beer festival we were able to sample different sorts of Ale, and met up with some more people who were also really friendly. We sat around in the sun talking about everything from dogs, to beer to businesses. We took part in the beer festival quiz, but didn’t win! We ate chips and other greasy food and then went for a wander onto a pub in the town. Our friends are very active in their community, and everywhere we went people knew them, which was really nice, I thought. The pub we got to was really laid back and I was able to get a lovely coffee (because I was driving home so I couldn’t have much beer) and there was cheese and biscuits on the bar too, which was a nice touch. The pub was very historical, like so much of the town. We had a lovely time there listening to the open mic acoustic talent, but all too soon it was time to head home to our hounds. We took a slow meander back to our friends’ house, taking in the church spire with a cannon ball hole in it, and the lovely town. Back at their house we said goodbye over a cup of tea, and promised that we would all meet up again to go to one of the many events held in Newark.

The drive home was much quicker since we took the right road and in about an hour we were back home with our wee doggies having had a really lovely time with some new friends. I love meeting new people.