A glut of Summer outfits

I've been completely engrossed in writing my travelogue ever since we came back from our Shropshire holiday. So much so that now I'm finding myself running behind on what else has been happening in my life. And what I've been wearing, obviously! Now that we're finally back on track with making daily outfit photos, it would be an utter shame to let them go to waste, so I'm treating you to a veritable glut of Summer outfits in this post! 

I was in the throes of a serious case of post-holiday blues on Monday the 24th of June and not at all looking forward to my first day back on the grind on Tuesday. 

As is often the case upon our return from the UK the weather gods had a minor heatwave in store for us, easing us in gently with highs of 25°C on my final day of rest. 

The maxi skirt, green short-sleeved top and stretchy belt were part of my travel wardrobe but, although I wore the belt on several occasions, for obvious reasons the skirt and top had remained unworn. They were all retail buys which have more than earned their keep in my wardrobe.

The tiny Irish sheep brooch and the ceramic beaded necklace were gifts from Claire, whom we met up with in the second week of our holiday. Travelogue to follow shortly!

As always, the first couple of days back at the office were a whirlwind of catching up with work and as the temperature was nudging 30°C for once I was glad of the coolness supplied by the office air con.

To add insult to injury, Jos had to take the car to the garage for Belgium's equivalent of the MOT, so that I was obliged to bus into Antwerp on Tuesday. To say it felt a bit weird after four years of being chauffeur-driven into Antwerp is a bit of an understatement, but at least the journey was a straightforward one.

I was too exhausted for outfit photos at the end of the day, but here's what I wore on Wednesday. 

The green sleeveless dress, its pattern a purple and red floral extravaganza, was a charity shop find last September and was just perfect for the continuing heatwave temperatures. The wooden beads came from Accessorize - I've got them in a different colourway as well - while the enamelled butterfly brooch was a flea market find in 2017.

Although it was in no way intentional, I seemed to have a bit of a green theme going on that week.

As usual, it was an utter joy to wear this jumpsuit, which came from a fast fashion shop on the high street. Bought in 2018, an incredible six years ago, it's a true case of fast fashion turned slow! 

Pops of orange from my belt, ring and beaded necklace completed my outfit. The tomato red sandals, which joined my wardrobe in 2020, were what Monica would call my repeat offenders, as it seems I wore them three days in a row. 

The temperature had gone down to around 20°C on Friday, which saw us driving to Antwerp for a hairdresser's appointment. While I was at the salon, Jos went for a coffee and a wander, after which we met up for lunch at the recently opened branch of Le Pain Quotidien, a chain of combined bakeries and breakfast and lunch restaurants. We both opted for cheese and ham croissants which we had with our usual cappuccinos.

Afterwards we took the tram for a couple of stops and then walked through the premises of the posh Botanic Sanctuary hotel located in a former convent and hospital complex whose history goes back to the 12th century. Here, I introduced Jos to Albert Szukalski's ghostly figures, relatives of those in the sculpture park.

We were on our way to buy a new Panama hat for Jos from a hat shop called Harbor of Men.

Mission accomplished, we walked back to the city centre through the Botanic Garden, where Jos wasted no time in exchanging the charity shopped M&S hat he was wearing for his new acquisition.

On our way out, we briefly paused for outfit photos. This zig-zag skirt was another one which fruitlessly accompanied me on my travels. It was a charity shop find in the Summer of 2021. In fact, most of what I'm wearing here was charity shopped, apart from the belt, a flea market find back in April, and the Clarks sandals, a sales bargain dating from 2018.

Saturday was a day of sunny spells and a balmy temperature of 23°C.

The dress I wrestled from my wardrobe's groaning rails that morning is vintage, from a label called Carine, which I remember being around when I was a young girl. It's got a gorgeous floral watercolour print and the sweetest cap sleeves which have a little split at the top allowing for welcome ventilation on a warm Summer's day.

I opted for neutral tones for my accessories, which included a Paris souvenir cameo brooch, a stretchy belt with wooden buckle and a wood and polished stone beaded necklace. The slingbacks I was wearing might very well be my most comfortable pair of Summer shoes. They're from the Spanish Art label and were picked up from an Outlet shop in May 2022.

My mind is a blank as to what we did that day, apart from the fact that we dropped off a bag of donations at the charity shop in the afternoon. It would have been rude not to have a rummage while we were there, and we were amply rewarded for our generosity by the charity shop goddesses.

The spoils which ended up in my trolley were two maxi skirts and several patterned tops. I'm actually wearing the drapey black patterned one (above, top left and centre) as I type.

With a repeat of Saturday's weather on Sunday, we thought it was high time we planted up the hanging baskets and upside-down green enamelled lampshades under the awning outside our backdoor. Embarrassingly, we admit that they still contained the sorry-looking remains of the daffodils, primulas and pansies we planted back in Spring since we'd postponed replacing them with Summer flowers until we were back from our holiday.

Needless to say, the choice at the garden centre was rather limited this late in the day, but we still found some scarlet double Pelargoniums for the cones and a cheerful yellow Sanvitalia for the half-basket against the potting shed wall.

A single white Pelargonium with contrasting burgundy markings was selected to join yet another yellow Sanvitalia in the hanging basket suspended from the awning and I couldn't resist buying a pot of pink and purple Fuchsias for the passageway.  

Sunday's dress was the black floral butterfly-sleeved one in the middle, a Think Twice sales bargain back in May.

We were back to grey skies, showers and temperatures barely touching 20°C in the first week of July. The perfect weather conditions to wear some of my beloved but sorely neglected Diolen Delights! Most of my collection was picked up from Think Twice over the years, although lately finding any of these colourful garments has become a bit of a rarity.

Finding one in a charity shop is even more unlikely, but that's exactly where I stumbled upon this glorious 1970s does 1940s number, albeit many years ago. I wore it on Thursday, my final working day of the week, picking a muted sage green as my main accessorizing colour. The brooch with its posy of tiny embroidered flowers was found in a Shrewsbury antiques centre in June 2019.

Friday the 5th of July was another grey and rainy one, with the additional delight of a blustery wind thrown in. This didn't bother me too unduly, as my friend Inez was coming over to help me put together the contents of our flea market stall in preparation for the event, which would take place on Sunday the 14th.

However, the day didn't got off to a good start. While dragging a seemingly endless number of boxes and bags from the built-in cupboard in our bedroom to the spare room, my ironing board, which is stored behind the bedroom door, toppled over and fell against the door, closing it with a bang in the process. As Bess - having a cat's curiosity and all that - was checking out the remaining boxes at the time disaster struck, she took fright and hid under the bed. She'd just come out of her hiding place when Inez, whom she hadn't met before, arrived. Still on edge from the ironing board episode, she hid under the sofa for the rest of the day, only emerging again by tea time. She remained nervy and apprehensive all through the evening and into Saturday and is still wary of the ironing board to this day.

Then, while Inez and I were selecting garments, pricing them and putting them on hangers, disaster struck again. As Jos was putting the rail together, one of the screws connecting the rail to one of the wheel frames got stuck and then broke off. There was nothing for it but to drill a new hole in the frame, which, although it made the rail a tiny bit wonky, turned out to be just fine in the end.

On the rail is our initial selection, with the rest of the clothes priced and put into boxes until space on the rail would become available on the day itself.

All that was left to do now was hoping the weather would at least be dry, so that our work wouldn't have been for nothing. Obviously, all will be revealed in a future post!

I'll be back with another episode of the travelogue next time. But before I go, here's what I've been reading lately. 

I'd just started Asta's Book by Barbare Vine - who is actually British crime writer Ruth Rendell - a couple of days before we went to Shropshire. It took me a while to finish it, as I kept dropping off on the sofa in the cowshed. Nevertheless, I loved it enough to have added another one of her books to my TBR pile. 

James Runcie's Canvey Island - which I'd bought during a previous Shropshire holiday - was started at the cowshed and finished at home, and didn't disappoint either. I'm still reading the 670-page Lucinda Riley novel I charity shopped while on holiday, so the jury's still out on that one.

Have you read any of these and what is your current read?

 

A day on the tiles

It's been a bit of a hectic week since I last posted here, with most of it taken up by the demands of my day job as well as the preparations for yesterday's flea market. I'll be telling you all about the latter in a future post, but for now let's once again set the time machine's satnav to last month's Shropshire holiday.

By Friday morning - we were the 14th of June by now - all traces of the previous evening's stormy weather had gone, although it was still a grey sky which greeted us when we drew the curtains. Fully expecting a repeat of Thursday's rainy weather and seriously under par temperatures, I dressed warmly, adding one of the pairs of Snags from Vix's goody bag, as well as my black and white dotty Phase Eight raincoat. The latter was bought on a similarly rainy day in at Church Stretton charity shop back in 2018.

With my raincoat, at least I matched some of our destination's black and white half-timbered architecture, but with highs of about 17°C, I didn't need all the layers this time around!

We'd chosen Shrewsbury as a shopping destination that day, and as always we were fully planning to make use of the town's excellent park and ride facilities, the nearest to the cowshed being Meole Brace. So, imagine our consternation when after negotiating the rather tricky roundabout at Meole Brace Retail Park we found the car park's entrance closed. After fruitlessly driving around in circles and asking one or two locals for directions, we finally made it to the new entrance to the south of the retail park and made it onto the waiting bus with minutes to spare.

Not expecting delays, we'd once again made a late start, so that it was almost midday when we got off the bus at The Square. From here, we hurried along into the direction of the post office on Pride Hill, as it was due to close at 1 pm. Here, we were faced with another setback in the form of a long and slowly proceeding queue, which was serviced by a single, flustered-looking employee. But there was nothing for it but to play the waiting game - something I'm notoriously bad at - as I'd brought along some books to post to Vronni! 

Then, after a quick lunch at the nearby M&S café, we were ready for a rummage at the town's numerous charity shops. I was on the lookout for long-sleeved tops in particular - note to Beate: it being or supposed to be Summer, there weren't any decent woollen jumpers to be had. Apart from a couple of t-shirts for layering purposes, a short-sleeved jumper and an aubergine Breton top I found these two peasant-style blouses, from Zara (top left) and M&S (bottom right) respectively.

There was also a new-with-tags Cath Kidston bag as well as no less than eight brooches, three of which were picked up from the delightful Mummas Emporium below.

Touted on Facebook as Shrewsbury's latest best kept secret and located  above Vision Express on Pride Hill, it's a cozy café and antiques shop combined. We enjoyed our customary cappuccinos with yummy sticky Belgian chocolate cake, which obviously we just needed to taste.

We then trudged up to the Park & Ride bus stop further along on Pride Hill, where we had a chat with a lovely lady during the rather long wait.

Saturday looked set to be a total washout and it was so dark that we needed to have breakfast with the lights on. When finally at around 10.30 the rain started petering out, we made a dash for our car and entered the day's destination into our satnav.

During the 50 minute or so drive it took us to get to Jackfield, in the Ironbridge Gorge, not only did it stop raining, we were even treated to one or two sunny spells.

Nevertheless, our journey wasn't exactly a smooth one, as it took us on seriously pot-holed roads and through the odd minor flood. To say that we were in need of some caffeine by the time we arrived at the Jackfield Tile Museum is quite an understatement.

Apart from a couple who had just ordered some toasted sandwiches, we were the only customers. However, with only one guy being in charge of everything, it took absolutely ages before we'd been served with our coffees and a shared slice of Victoria sponge. We thanked our lucky stars that we'd had the foresight to bring a picnic, so that we wouldn't have to starve to death while waiting for lunch to be dished up!

Appropriately caffeinated, we then pushed our way through the double doors leading to the museum proper and started our explorations.

We were urged to check out the old offices first, where we made use of an old-fashioned telephone to listen to the accounts of former employees.

The museum is housed within the premises of Craven Dunnill, a working tile factory which is still producing decorative tiles on site to this day. It showcases the British decorative tile industry between 1840 to 1960, the era which was the heyday of Craven Dunnill and its neighbours Maw & Co. 

After giving up its Jackfield premises, Craven Dunnill moved to nearby Bridgnorth in 1950. The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust purchased the site in 1983 and tile manufacture restarted at Jackfield in 1989, with Craven Dunnill taking over the business again in 2001.

The museum lies in the village of Jackfield, near Broseley, on the south bank of the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and now a World Heritage Site. It is one of ten Ironbridge Gorge museums administered by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.

Jackfield Tile Museum is a treasure-trove of British ceramic design, fabulously curated and displayed in period room settings and beautiful galleries where the tiles are clearly labelled, both by period and style.

Like the Victorian Radicals exhibition we visited a couple of days prior, there was so much to take in that this definitely won't be our last visit.

I'm sure you won't be surprised that the Arts & Crafts tiles and ceramics, and particularly those produced by William de Morgan (including Antelope, ca. 1880, above, bottom right) were my absolute favourites.

One of the highlights of the museum is the collection of around 1700 tiles donated to the museum in 2013 by John Scott (1935-2020), who had been collecting Victorian tiles since the 1960s. Apparently, there's a book about the John Scott tile collection, which I definitely must seek out.

The museum also has some faithfully recreated premises, like a traditional butcher's shop (above, top left), a church interior (above, bottom left) and a Victorian pub with its curved tiled bar (below), all showcasing the creative use of tiles in the Victorian era.

The iconic glazed tiles used in several London tube stations — Covent Garden among them — were produced at this site, so it was only natural that this mock platform was included in the exhibits. 

The museum also has a huge room full of historic moulds, which enables the company to recreate the designs and thus assist with restoration works at historical properties. 

Some of the machinery and equipment used in tile-making, as well as the remains of the ancient kiln, can be viewed outside in the courtyard.

If you noticed the absence of other visitors in the photos, this time it definitely wasn't the result of my patience. In fact, we often had the rooms completely to ourselves!

By then, the sun was out in full force and had made short shrift with the remaining rain clouds. As we had our picnic waiting in the car, that's where we were headed, taking pity on the handful of people who were making their way to the Peacock Café.

Before heading to our next destination, less than ten minutes up the road, here's a little hint in the form of one of the tiles I photographed in the museum!

It is in fact the famous Iron Bridge, in a small town of the same name, which lies on the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge. The town developed beside and took its name from the 30-meter cast iron bridge which spans the gorge.

Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron. Its success inspired the widespread use of cast iron as a structural material, and today the Grade I listed bridge is celebrated as a symbol of the Industrial Revolution.

In 1934 it was designated a scheduled monument and closed to vehicular traffic. Tolls for pedestrians were collected until 1950, when the bridge was transferred into public ownership. 

Having previously visited here in 2019, we reacquainted ourselves with the town, photographing the bridge, which was restored to its former glory in 2017 and 2018, from all angles. We even ended up kissing under the iron bridge (a reference to the Smiths' song, Still Ill - here on YouTube), something we neglected to do back in 2019.

After wandering around the town and having a peek in a tiny bric-a-brac shop selling vintage Craven Dunnill and Maw & Co. tiles at eye watering prices, we finished our visit with - you guessed it - cups of cappuccino, before travelling back to the cowshed by way of those potholed roads.

The day ended as it had begun, with torrential rain, which would last until half-way through the night.

And I'm ending this post as it began too, with a peek at my outfit. I was wearing the same denim midi skirt and the same mock croc ankle boots. My blouse is from the Belgian Who's That Girl label by way of a charity shop and my orange stretchy belt - a retail buy - was last seen here on our trip to Birmingham with Vix and Jon.

Although I've obviously got a couple more travel posts up my sleeve, I might take a brief break from them by a catch-up of what else has been happening in my life and what I've been wearing lately. 

See you soon!

Halcyon Days

What with my return to the rat race and the preparations for next week's flea market, I'm the first to admit that my travelogue is proceeding at a snail's pace. My mind boggles at the fact that it is now well over two weeks since we've waved the cowshed goodbye! No fear of our holiday receding into the mists of time any time soon though. Courtesy of the just under a thousand photographs I've taken and the effort I made to scribble a couple of lines into my dairy in the evenings, I'm able to relive it all, one perfect day at a time.

But time marches on relentlessly, and it's almost beyond belief that in just a couple of days it will be one whole month ago since we drove through the gates of Stonecroft, Vix and Jon's wonderfully eclectic home in Walsall, on Wednesday the 12th of June.  And before I go any further, let me tell you that their home is every bit as gorgeous as it looks on her blog, and more!

Here Vix and I are posing in their garden, with the famous Kinky shed in the background, at the end of an absolutely fabulous day.  Even the weather gods were on their best behaviour, with lots of sunny spells and - gasp! - highs of 17°C.

I'd been keen to visit the upcoming Victorian Radicals exhibition in Birmingham ever since I read about it at the end of last year, and Vix's posts about her visits (here and here) had whetted my appetite even further.  However, as we weren't all too keen to drive into Birmingham, there were some logistics to sort out first. In the end, we proposed to drive over to Walsall - about an hour and a half from the cowshed - and take the X51 bus into Birmingham as mentioned by Vix on her blog.

So, that was exactly what we did and, after a catch-up over coffee and making the acquaintance of the handsome William, we walked over to the bus stop and hopped onto the fairly crowded bus for the 25 minutes or so drive into Brum.

Here, our guides swiftly walked us through the hubbub of Birmingham's city centre to Victoria Square, where they introduced us to Antony Gormley's Iron:Man and the Floozie in the Jacuzzi, whose official name is The River, by Dhruva Mistry, apparently one of the largest fountains in Europe.

Walking around the corner to the Gas Hall's entrance, we obliged Vix by posing for the obligatory photo in front of the Victorian Radicals billboard.

I'm shamelessly quoting the museum's introduction to the exhibition on their website, to give you an idea of what the exhibition is about.

Three generations of British artists, designers and makers revolutionised the visual arts in the second half of the nineteenth century. The Pre-Raphaelites, William Morris and his circle and the men and women of the Arts and Crafts movement transformed art and design.

Selected from the city of Birmingham's outstanding collection, Victorian Radicals presents vibrant paintings and exquisite drawings alongside jewellery, glass, textiles and metalwork to explore their radical vision for art and society.

Suffice to say that it was far too much to take in during one single visit. In fact, I was so overwhelmed that I didn't take nearly enough photos. Here are just a handful of the things that caught my eye.

Above, clockwise from top left: portrait of Dante Gabriel Rossetti - doesn't he have the most mesmerizing eyes? - by William Holman Hunt (c.1882), a selection of tiles designed ca.1863 by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, La Donna della Finestra by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1881), and Sigismonda Drinking the Poison by Joseph Edward Southall (1897).

I wouldn't have minded taking these embroidered purses and stunning jewellery home with me, although I think I might have had to share the latter with Vix.

Continuing with the favourites, below, from left: Beate Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (completed by Ford Maddox Brown, 1877), Morgan le Fay by Frederick Sandys (1864) and A Young Woman Holding a Rose by Emma Sandys (1870-72).

Flanking Vix with her fabulous Pre-Raphaelite style hair are two stunning paintings by Kate Elizabeth Bunce ( (1858–1927), an English painter and poet, whose work falls somewhere between the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts & Crafts movement. She was also a lecturer at Birmingham College of Art. 

On the left: Musica (1895), which you might recognize from the exhibition poster, and on the right: The Keepsake (1901). Apparently, the latter is based on a poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, called The Staff and Scrip:

'Then stepped a damsel to her side,

And spoke and needs must weep:

'For his sake, lady, if he died,

He prayed of thee to keep

This staff and scrip.'

Below, on the right is a Morris & Co. stained glass panel depicting St Mark the Evangelist, designed by Edward Burne-Jones for Merton Abbey, London (1883). On the left is a rare survival of a full-sized cartoon - using an oil painting rather than the more usual charcoal and wash drawing on paper - by Burne-Jones (1859) for a window depicting the Annunciation.

Below, clockwise from top left: lead glass flask (ca. 1870) by Thomas and Elijah Barnes, Choosing the Red and White Roses in the Temple Gardens by Henry Albert Payne (1908-10), Fiammetta (Georgie Gaskin) by Arthur Joseph Gaskin (1898), Hope comforting Love in Bondage (1901) by Sydney Harold Meteyard, Victorian gown made from William Morris fabric, originally intended for upholstery and, finally, Vix and yours truly admiring the stunning Beate Beatrix! 

Although the first edition had long been sold out, we were thrilled to see that the exhibition catalogue was available once more, so that we wasted no time in purchasing one of these hefty volumes, which Jos carried around in an appropriate Victorian Radicals canvas bag.

Meanwhile, a mirror selfie revealed that I'm shorter than Vix! And that's Jon photobombing Vix and Jos in the snapshot on the left!

It was well past midday and our stomachs were definitely rumbling by now. Guided by Vix, we made our way to the New Street branch of Medicine, a bakery, café and art gallery established on the first floor of the building which was previously home to the Royal Society of Birmingham Artists. 

Hunger pangs sated, we walked around the corner to the cathedral to admire the William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones stained glass windows. 

They were installed in 1885-87 and 1898 and depict the Ascension, the Nativity, the Crucifixion and the Last Judgement. 

Then it was back to the bus stop, where we had a bit of a wait until the X51 to Walsall rolled along. We finished the day with welcome cups of coffee, a tour of Stonecroft and, best of all, a peek inside the Kinky Melon tent. And exchanging gifts, obviously.

We were treated to handmade fabric tote bags full of goodies. 

Jos received a couple of naughty 1950s magazines, a Tala curry measure, a vintage Tala icing set, a fancy tea towel and two shirts, both of which he already wore during our holiday. 

My tote bag was filled with a gorgeous dress suit, two pairs of Snag tights - very welcome for these under par temperatures - two pots of Body Shop British Rose body butters and a handful of Ethiopian Honey face masks. When we met up a couple of days later, Vix also gave me a pot of Body Shop lip balm and Luckenbooth by Jenni Fagan, which is currently awaiting its turn in my TBR pile.

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye - although not for long! - and return to the cowshed. I wish I could say our return journey was uneventful but unfortunately road works and an unexpected road closure threw some spanners in the works. Needless to say that we were exhausted when we finally made it home.

We'd already made the decision to stay closer to home on Thursday, but it was the weather forecast for rain, wind and decidedly unsummery temperatures of 10°C which cinched the deal and saw us driving down to Attingham Park. Involving a drive of just over half an hour, this National Trust owned property has a Georgian mansion at its heart which is well worth a (re)visit.

As we'd slept in a bit longer and had taken our time over breakfast and getting ready, the morning was already quite advanced when we finally trundled up its long drive. I won't mention the fact that by then we'd taken a wrong turn twice and that our silly Satnav tried to take us to the exit rather than the entrance.

Upon arrival, we took refuge inside the extensive second-hand bookshop, where I serendipitously stumbled upon the Edward Burn-Jones tone. Four Hundred Years of Fashion, based on the V&A's world famous collection, also came home with me. Then it was up to the café for lunch, where I had a ham and smoked cheddar turnover, while Jos enjoyed his first jacket potato of the holiday.

Emerging from the café, we were dismayed to find that it had got even colder and, as the first drops of the forecasted rain were starting to fall, we ditched our plans to walk down to the walled garden.

Making our way towards the mansion, we were once again shivering in spite of wearing plenty of layers, in my case including a jumper and a cardigan. The volunteers inside the Entrance Hall (above, top right) had even closed the door to keep out the chill. 

There's a degree of trickery going on here, as the Entrance Hall is decorated with fake marble pillars and mock alcoves designed to look like three dimensional ones housing classical sculptures. The fireplace is topped with a bust of William Pitt the Younger, who was Prime Minister from 1783-1806, and who created the title Lord Berwick.

From here, we wandered from room to room, trying to keep one step ahead of a group who'd entered the mansion with us, some of whose members insisted on ruining the photos I was trying to make. Needless to say, much grumbling ensued, and there was nothing for it but to keep to details when my patience finally ran out.

Nevertheless, we spent an inordinate amount of time in the Picture Gallery until it was empty of the people who were milling about here. As apparently they were waiting for the guided tour of the private two-storey apartment in the East Wing, we could somewhat relate. The scene of last year's blogger meet-up, we'd done our fair bit of waiting around for our tardy tour guide back then.

When Thomas Hill, the second Lord Berwick, inherited Attingham Park in 1789, he also inherited a substantial fortune. As was the custom at the time, Thomas took part in the Grand Tour - a tour of Europe and Italy in particular - during which he purchased a great number of paintings and sculptures. As he needed a place to house his collection, he commissioned the architect John Nash to add the picture gallery in 1805. Nash's pièce de resistance was the sumptuous Grand Staircase (above, bottom right).

After touring the ground floor, it was time to descend to the servants' quarters "below stairs", where the kitchen, butler’s pantry, and servants’ hall can be visited.

Cook had just finished a batch of mince pies and surreptitiously dashed from the kitchen to get her mobile phone to take a photograph. Not surprisingly, she strictly forbade us to take a photo of her doing so ...

As there still wasn't any improvement in the weather when we left the mansion, we decided to have a cup of cappuccino and some shortbread and then call it a day.

By the time we'd stopped for a food shop at a supermarket in Church Stretton, it had begun to rain in earnest, and we'd barely made it inside the cowshed before all hell broke loose and we were treated to a veritable storm.

I'm happy to say that, although temperatures continued to be up and down, we didn't have a repeat of Thursday's atrocious weather. 

I'll be back with more later this week. Hope to see you again then!