I love our family coming to visit, I love weekends, I love days out hunting for amazing finds and bargains in charity shops, I love buying presents, I love unexpected pleasures, I love finding new quilt shops ... I ticked all the boxes today :)
DH drove me, his Mum and Sis to Canterbury, Kent today ... it's about an hour from where we live ... and we enjoyed the 6 hours we spent there today very much.
Canterbury is most famous for its Cathedral and Archbishop ... and it is the birthplace of Orlando Bloom (such a pretty boy!):
It is also a vibrant shopping area with a mixture of old and new, cobbled roads, cute cafes and a nice sprinkle of charity shops. Dear SIL is the 'Queen of Finding Bargains' ... I am but a mere amateur in training! These were my bargains today - a 1980 book for £1:
2 metres of Cath Kidston fabric - half price at £10 a metre - but still a bargain:
And 4 yards of fabric in a vintage shop which I may use (at some point) to re-cover our dining room chairs:
Our unexpected pleasure was a short boat ride with the Canterbury Historic River Tour. We had a lovely young man (Tom L), who graduated last month with a degree in military history, row our boat and entertain us along the River Stour for 45 minutes ... he narrated very well and told some awful jokes - 'Those trees over there in cages are the most dangerous trees in England - they committed treason (trees on!) and were caught by Special Branch!' ... well, we laughed ... you probably had to be there :)
There were a lot of street musicians; some good, some not so good - my favourite was a young trumpeteer who played Somewhere over the Rainbow beautifully * sigh * ... made me smile.
After lunch and a bit more shopping, we found a patchwork shop ... yay! Did not think this day could get any better! Hello, The Sewing Shop :) I needed some batting / wadding for my Swedish Quilt (finished the top this morning, basting it tomorrow morning, aren't we DH?!) and I bought some Advent Calendar panels (which I'll write about another day.) Very friendly staff and much to my disappointment (but not to theirs or DH's), it got really busy 5 minutes after we got there ... never mind, I shall return :)
A wonderful day was had by all. Even DH and Mum shopped and this was our collective haul:
Everything we needed, I promise :)
That sounds so much fun! A Canterbury tale indeed :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun time. Well, I laughed (well, maybe chuckled) at the joke your tour guide told. Your fabrics are beautiful, Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteWow what a haul. Found you via Sew Many Ways. Can't wait to see those dining chairs recovered in that gorgeous fabric.
ReplyDeleteAh, how lovely! Glad you had such a nice day.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fantastic day! I always love finding bargains.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, a beautiful story of a wonderful day. I laughed at the joke as well. Orlando Bloom's home town looks like a wonderful place to visit.
ReplyDeleteI kid you not, my husband made the same kind of joke the other day at the lake when we saw trees with cages around them. I laughed then too, but the treason part was even more perfect!
ReplyDeleteLove making little discoveries! What a lovely day you had!