Mini-Break (and PIF result)

As well as our Shropshire mini-break, I seem to have taken an unplanned blogger mini-break as well, don't know where the last 2 weeks have gone!
Almost old news now but Mr. Bloom and I had a few days away during Bank Holiday week, a bit of a tour really.

Day 1 we stopped in Ross-on-Wye on our way to our first stop - Hereford. Half a day in each, just wandering around the shops, and a visit to Hereford Cathedral. This is worth a visit, it holds the Mappa Mundi - a map of the world as interpreted by scholars in the 13th Century.

Day 2 on to Shrewsbury, stopping in Leominster on the way - it's been mentioned on other blogs before, but Leominster is fantastic for lovely antique shops, a real paradise for vintage-lovers. I could have spent the day there but didn't, we went on to Shrewsbury for the afternoon and overnight stay. Shrewsbury is lovely, lots of old Tudor buildings, but a nightmare one-way system in the town centre, we missed our turn for the car park and it took us 20 minutes to get round again, being lunchtime didn't help. Shrewsbury has lots of charity shops, so many that I didn't manage to get round them all before the shops closed - a good excuse for another visit then!

Day 3 - homeward via Ludlow, Leominster again (a change of mind about something I hadn't bought, fortunately it was still there!) then a final short stop in Newent, though we didn't have enough time to visit the Shambles Museum, before heading home.

p.s the pics are all from Shrewsbury apart from the first one which is Hereford Cathedral. I didn't notice a smudge on my camera lens which ruined a lot of my pics - plus I was busy shopping most of the time anyway!

Thought you might like to see where we stayed (Mr. Bloom takes me to all the best establishments ;-)).

Well, actually it was my idea, for those you haven't heard of Travelodge, they are a budget motel chain, usually located roadside or in town centres. We use them quite often, they are very basic but if you book in advance you can get a room for £29 per night (or £19 in sale time), about half the cost of a regular B&B and much cheaper than hotels. Breakfast is extra, but we don't bother and find somewhere nicer to eat.

The accomodation is nothing fancy but percectly acceptable (if you don't mind orange walls!) for an overnight stay. Some are better than others. I go online to see what's available, that's how we ended up going where we did.

So, on to my shopping. I picked up a few nice things, not the huge haul I usually manage to bring home, but I have to start considering where I'm going to put it all, so some self-restraint was necessary.

I was thrilled to find this vintage chocolate box drawers. I'd been on the lookout for one like this for ever, but they are rarely found, even less so in my price range (£single figures).

Another vintage box full of sewing bits and bobs

Someone went to a lot of effort to crochet this pretty pinny and trim with lace - too nice to use I think, though a stain shows it was, hope it will wash out!

Some millinery flowers, the pink peony is just divine.

A lovely chunky pressed blue glass cake dish.

A vintage Laura Ashley catalogue from 1984. It's hard to find the older ones of her catalogue now, I used to have quite a collection of them but let it go some years ago (drat!)

It's quite recent to be vintage and some of the pictures and furnishings still just look dated (to me) but there were a couple of pretty interiors which I wouldn't mind in my house.

Now that there's some colour in the garden it's so nice to be able to pick a few flowers to bring indoors. This little posy is currently brightening up my telephone table in the hall.

My PIF I posted about last time is now closed, congratulations to Laura and Linda Lilly Cottage and Sue in Chester who will be receiving something from me sometime hopefully soon. Please email me your postal addresses ladies and any colour likes/dislikes.

I'm painting our utility room today and I think the paint must be ready for it's second coat so I'd best get back to that now. Hope all's well in your corner of the world!

Lucy x