Moving on

Watty1

I didn't know that company had a bookshop.   Now I need to go to Bath sometime and then spend hours in there, be thoroughly indecisive and buy nothing because I can't decide   

Your trip is sounding lovely.

liselle

Yes they moved from London.They have an online catalogue and newsletter too.

Seasidegal58

Your break sounds lovely Cherry!  I visited Stratford last year on a Shakespeare weekend, including the lovelychurch with that beautiful avenue of trees!  I keep thinking what wonderful photos you would have if you married there.....

Cherryfudge

Here you are, @Seasidegal58: a misty moment looking out through the rain.

Cherryfudge

Can you believe how many fallen leaves there are for the beginning of September?

Today was once again generous with its showers. My jeans and trainers are in the airing cupboard drying out. There are socks and a tee shirt on the airer and my hair needed towelling... Between times it was pleasant, and this afternoon was warm and sunny.

I had an omelette for lunch and we put salad leaves and roasted carrots with fish and chips for dinner, so the fridge food is decreasing. 

In the morning we went to Bath Abbey: I've never seen so many memorials, 1500! Both interesting (individually) and grim. However, there was an interesting museum bit and a great giftshop. I found a couple of things for the preschool group, and it's not easy to find the right materials for them so I told the staff how pleased I was, and one of them turned out to be the buyer. There were also some beautiful greetings cards so we have a selection that we probably didn't really need as well as two planned ones.

In the afternoon we had a visit to DH's other auntie and uncle. They are a lovely couple, but older age is taking its toll. I was so happy we got to spend some time with them. DH had a childhood memory of his aunt getting out the delicate china and serving tea and biscuits so he made sure that happened again. The rest of the day was a visit to Holburne Museum where there's an exhibition of Turner's watercolours. We only had a couple of hours but fitted in quite a bit.

Last item for the day was Waitflower again (it's still expensive! It has that reputation up north as well but we don't happen to have one near us. Comparable to EmandEs foodhall, I suppose, and we have one of those). It was a little disappointing because I've had a beautiful selection of mixed dried beans from them during lockdown, and those weren't there today. I also refuse to pay £2 for sugar when it's £1.09 elsewhere! However, what we got was nice.

Well, last night I gave myself a fright as I thought I had lost my Duolingo streak, but it was a false alarm, so I will do a few minutes to keep it up before bed.

Cherryfudge

Credit card paid up to date, so no nasty surprises in the form of interest. The day's spending was:
Garden £2.79 (a variegated thyme on the marked down plants in Waitflower - came in handy for the roast carrots at tea time, too)
Housekeeping £14.46
Entertainment (2 lots of entry fees) £9.50 + £14 = £23.50
Gifts/donations £22.98
Photo storage £1.79

badmemory

And if you have a homebargains nearby sugar is still only 89p.  Not for much longer now I have put it on here!

Seasidegal58

Thanks for posting the lovely photo Cherry!  I thought you might like to see a photo I took last summer - the shot was taken completely round the other way from yours -  looking directly at the church entrance!  Not as good a photo as yours though!

Cherryfudge

That's lovely, @Seasidegal58 - I can see why you thought of it for a wedding. Any bridal party approaching on the day of my photo would, unfortunately, have been washed away! It's nice to see it in sunshine.

We haven't done a huge amount today: DH went for a walk and to find Morries this morning. He also got to browse the piano shop (he was allowed to try a Steinway grand) and the stamps shop, and came back with another old coin, which I think cost him a fiver. It was funny after he got back, bringing the sugar I'd requested. I went to open it and saw our own sugar cannister which DH had packed in our 'from home' foods! It was nearly full, so no need to buy new. However, I did use one of the limes left by our hosts to make a lime curd, which is now in the fridge as a little 'thanks' to them, along with gifts we'd already arranged.

We're doing quite well eating through the fresh goods they left. I've decided to leave the box of eggs that goes out of date the day after they get back, unless I replace like for like. They are four adults so they may get through them in one sitting. DH didn't notice the carrots that needed to be used up and bought a couple more, but at least there's turnover. I think the remaining lemon and lime should be okay in the fridge and the rest of the fruit and some salad are eaten.

In the afternoon we went to Corsham Court (stately home) which has an impressive art collection and gardens: I fell asleep on the way back, though it was only about 10 miles. Tea was fish cakes, assorted veg and cous cous, eaten while watching the Bake Off. Did anyone else think the Jurassic Park sketch at the beginning was a waste of Bake Off time? Or am I just a fuddy duddy? The Swiss rolls were impressive, though.

DH has sent an email to the bank to say how good the service was in Stratford, and another to our friends with whom we were going to stay last weekend. They've invited us in October but for various reasons we think it would work out better all round it we meet up in spring. As for me, I've started playing a version of that early computer table tennis, but in my case I'm battling rota changes. I'd like to say it keeps my brain sharp, but someone had to point out to me that I was offering to cover one that's already done.  

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £7.59
Entertainment/holiday £27.50
Hobbies £5.

Cherryfudge

A lovely final day away, though I think I need to be frugal for a while to make up for the spending.

I had a quiet morning at the house while DH went for a walk. I just mooched round and picked blackberries in the garden, though the juice got on my sweatshirt so I ended up doing a load of washing. That's handy, though, as it leaves less to do when we get home. I was just thinking that DH had been a while when I had a text to say he has walked to a village outside the city and it would take him about another hour to get back. He's done around 24,000 steps, to my 8,800.

So I mooched a bit more and cooked up the blackberries with a couple of windfall apples.

In the afternoon we went for our anniversary coffee and cake to the vegan place we'd discovered the other day. It's not our anniversary yet but the day itself looks like being claimed by business-type stuff. The drinks and cake were very good, and afterwards we went to the Roman Baths.

The Baths weren't cheap but were probably the most interesting thing we've been to this holiday. There's an audio guide included in the price so we found out a lot of information, and it's very well presented. My favourite part (says she, sounding as though she's writing an assignment at age 8) was the films projected in most rooms: they were silent enactments of everyday scenes, some funny and all credible, apart, perhaps, from the ones where nude bathers managed to remain modest... that must have taken some rehearsal!  

We spent all afternoon there and of course I took lots of photos. Some of the characters from the films were present and it was obviously a sufficiently immersive experience to suspend disbelief because when I walked past a toga-clad man and he greeted me with 'Salve', I replied with the same! I have a vague memory that modern Italian uses the same word, but why I felt it polite to reply to him in a supposedly-dead language, I don't know.  

We had a quick look in TKM afterwards as I'd rather liked some tea towels there, but they had lost their magic so I didn't bother with them. However, our planned self-catered dinner went by the by. We decided we wanted our anniversary meal, so we went to an Italian place. Salad Niçoise and Tiramisu for me, Bolognese, sorbet and a glass of Prosecco for DH.

Before going home, we went to Waitflower again - this is not a cheap hobby! We wanted a meal for tomorrow, a few bits and pieces of cleaning things (I react to one of the ones our hosts have in the cupboard) and some nice teas and sundry groceries to replace some they left for us.

This evening I had energy (DH, of course, had walked a lot more than I did) so I started on the cleaning. We don't need to leave till after lunch tomorrow so some is left for then.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping for us/groceries for hosts £40.83
Entertainment/holiday (eating out) £15.40 + £61.50
Entertainment/holiday admission £55
Gift £10?