Pensioner's day out

  Now and again Bald bloke and I, like to go out on little trips which we refer to as our 'Pensioner days out'.

 

We like to live the high life, going out for tea and cake don't you know...

 Well, after lots of debating on our half an hours drive limit (gawd forbid I get a blinking headache if we dare to venture further) we decided on Burford House Garden Store.  

The interiors shop

 It's not far from Ludlow, in Tenbury Wells (there's also a Burford near Oxford) and it was far more than just a 'garden store', much to our delight.
I could have spent a small fortune there, quite easily.

the reclamation yard

We were traveling behind a horrendous thunder storm and when we arrived it looked like they had had the worst of it already. There was a lot of mopping and sweeping water out of the shop and cafe going on.
 The garden centre was lovely and quite reasonable,there were lots of plants that I had been looking for locally and everything had been reduced but what we didn't expect was finding a fabulous Georgian house that was an interiors outlet store, selling wonderful Newgate clocks, mirrors, candles and vintage-looking homewear, A children's wear shop with the most gorgeous clothes and toys I've ever seen, a wonderful reclamation yard (we both LOVE having a mooch in those) and a pretty riverside garden to stroll around attached to the house.

  There's no charge to enter the gardens and they were shabby but lovely.

 Old English country house style which is just what I love. I used to maintain a garden like this and they are super-high maintenance, by the time you'd taken a month to get round the whole thing, the weeds in the first part you did were two foot high and it was time to do it all again.

  If I hadn't of got my most un-sensible flip-flops on (considering the thundery weather!) I'd have got stuck in with the weeding. I love a challenge like that.

 Pete spotted this great hand painted vintage tin sign attached to a door in the reclamation part. It's about 30" high. Knowing how much I love old graphics and tatty stuff he made the lethal mistake of pointing it out to me...

 A little bit of cheeky bartering later and it came home with us for probably a quarter of the price you'd have got it on eBay for.

It was a bit bent,covered in grease and filthy but very 'us'.He spent the afternoon gently cleaning it up with petrol of all things. An insanely cheap Victorian terracotta flower pot came too.

In the main house, I also spotted a mirror that I'd been hunting for. I have the little version but really wanted the big wall version for the bathroom. (You'll have to imagine the big one as it's still all wrapped up safely)

the little version

Ages and ages and ages that's been on my wishlist, so when we found it there for half price it was too good an opportunity to miss. Bald bloke just gives me that knowing look when I start whining on about 'wish lists' and the like. I promised to live off beans on toast for a week and it came home with us aswell.

The cafe was quite nice too..the cup of tea was pants but the cake was lovely!
(In my best Homer Simpson voice Mmmm Caaaaaake!)

The cafe with it's lovely Lloyd loom chairs

   I'd thoroughly recommend having a mooch if you're over that way anytime!