Half Term Trip

Last week we had one of our traditional half term trips to London. We sent to see Mamma Mia and loved it.

We did some shopping as you would expect and also quite a lot of window shopping ! This was the display in Church's shoe shop near Savile Row. Northampton is famous for shoe making and it was lovely to see the display in this very smart window saying 'Made In Northampton'.

We had a wander around some of the beautiful shopping arcades.

We loved this display of pastel coloured macaroons.

We then headed in to Fortnum and Masons

the shop windows were all decorated for Halloween

inside were wonderfully carved pumpkins

and pumpkin cakes.

Of course there were also plenty of Christmas decorations, this staircase looked stunning.

This is Mr Holmes outside Baker street tube station.

I am sure you can guess where this is, we decided to go to the shop on Marlebone High Street as we had never been there before. From the outside the building lacks the character of most of her other shops but inside it was exactly as you would expect.

This patchwork is actually wallpaper

I love this beautiful digital printed wallpaper but it is incredibly expensive

the shop windows were very Christmassy

I treated myself to Christmas crackers, a set of Christmas tea towels( I buy some every year), some serviettes and a tin of Christmas tags. The tags are lovely and I have already decided to use some to make a Christmas garland rather than use them all on presents.

Exploring London

Last weekend I had a great couple of days away with my lovely girl in London. It's not far for us to go and my daughter loves it, especially planning to explore new areas. We managed to find a cheap rate at The Hoxton where we have stayed before. It is a great hotel with delicious food at The Hoxton Grill. Also it was bang in the middle of the area we wanted to start exploring. First off we headed to Spitalfields and explored the wonderful covered market. There are some great little shops and cafes in the surrounding streets and a lovely buzzing atmosphere. We stood and watched a tea dance taking place in the middle of the market square.

We then headed off towards Brick lane and stopped to look at the wonderful houses with their original painted shutters. This area was once home to Huguenot refugees who were weavers and needed the tall houses and high windows.

Brick Lane was bustling and had such contrasts of styles and cultures.There were lots of wonderful smells in the air but it was too early for curry so we headed in to a traditional style American diner and had a milkshake.

There were lots of vintage clothes shops in surrounding streets. This one was crammed with shelves of scarves, pretty aprons and pinnies, hats, eiderdowns and linens. We walked a bit further to Columbia Road where the famous flower market takes place on a Sunday. Most of the shops were closed because it wasn't market day, including a shop full of vintage lovelies. I will definitely be heading back one Sunday.

Next stop was the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. I could have spent a lot longer in here but we were pretty tired and hungry by this stage but still had a good look round. One of my favourite things was the doll dressed in green at the top but Snow White and the Seven Dwarves were lovely too.

The dolls houses were fascinating but quite hard to photograph because of the detail.

I love this picture of the two boys with their sailing boat. It would be great to track down a copy.

The next day we were up bright and early to go on a tour of the Houses of Parliament. Very touristy I know but something my daughter really wanted to do. I can honestly say I really enjoyed it and found it fascinating. The place is enormous and full of amazing Victorian interiors and paintings.

We then headed off to Chiswick and explored the shops including of course Cath Kidston and The Old Cinema. After a delicious lunch I checked out the charity shops, and made a few purchases.

Final treat of the day was a trip to Harrods and sharing this very naughty Harrods Special ice cream sundae.

My charity shop purchases were this Beryl, Woods Ware tea pot which matches my cups and saucers.

Also this wonderful set of vintage place mats decorated with scenes of Cornwall by George Hann. These will probably go in to my Etsy shop although Mr C seems to have taken a liking to them.

I also bought this pretty set of glasses which match a jug I have. The prices were much higher than I would pay in a charity shop at home but still worth it for such lovely things. The Cath Kidston makeup bag is in one of her new designs 'button rose'.

We headed home tired but pleased we had seen some new places and planning our next trip to Columbia Road !

Tea And Cakes

On Saturday morning I popped round to our local monthly antiques fair and found this old oak cake stand. Slightly warped but with lots of potential for display purposes. I knew when I saw it that it would be very useful for Deb and I in our new venture (more of that another day). I raided Mr C's paint collection and gave it a couple of coats of 'Sky Blue' from The Little Greene Paint Company.

I also found these sweet book ends which I will add to my Etsy shop.

Mr C picked me this lovely apricot coloured David Austin rose and bright orange poppy.

On Saturday afternoon we went to our nearest National Trust property Canon's Ashby house and church. We had a look around the garden and had some lunch. It is a beautiful property and we visit fairly often as we are members of the National trust and it's lovely to have something like this so close to home.

This gate to the garden was so romantic looking, covered in honeysuckle allowed to grow wild.

This reminded me of the door to the 'Secret Garden'

We also went over to Farthingstone village and bought some cakes to take home from the Bay Tree Cottage open day. Mr C bought a few plants and we sat in the garden and enjoyed tea and cakes in the sunshine.

This old gate was just down the lane from Bay Tree cottage and the bench with the lovely inscription was down the lane on the way out of the village.

On Friday I went to London with my lovely girl who wanted a break from revision.It was incredibly hot but we still had fun. We had lunch on the South Bank outside the Royal Festival Hall and we sat and watched the world go by.

I treated myself to the basket bag from Cath Kidston's Covent Garden shop. This was after much excitement from seeing a couple of the stars from the Pineapple Dance Studio show. The studio is just round the corner from the Cath Kidston shop.

We then had to visit the new Jack Wills store on Long Acre, Covent Garden . This is probably the biggest of their shops and was beautifully decorated with vintage silverware, books, bathroom fittings, faded Union Jack flags and pictures. The chandelier on the stairway was enormous, and the walls were covered in vintage prints.

this is a lovely sweet shop on the edge of Covent Garden

and also a very nice bakery selling pretty cup cakes.

Well it's been a lovely week away from work and with amazing weather which I never usually seem to get when I take time off work. Back to reality tomorrow and a long week of GCSEs for my lovely girl.