Hidden treasure...

After dropping Sophie off at work this morning Keith and I went to Screwfix to buy an inspection lamp as we planned to go up into our loft today and see what we could find to sell next Sunday. The lamp worked really well and for the first time I was able to see clearly into our loft space.

We found two boxes of books (more books!!), my wedding dress, some baby clothes of Sophie's, an old rocking horse and bags of soft toys. Getting it all down was hard work and then we transported it all downstairs to sort out and clean. Our conservatory now looks like a junk shop!

Some of the children's soft toys waiting to find new owners...

So, we now have books, CDs, DVDs, Play Station games, china, clothing and little bits and pieces for the table top sale next week. Keith and I talked about the weather and we've decided that if it rains, we can get the Honda into the garage, pull my car right up the drive and then put our table under the carport to keep us dry. Needless to say we're praying for good weather!

After we'd finished with the loft I hoovered the house, ironed the pillowcases for our bed (I'd changed it that morning and was now regretting it!) and thankfully sat down for a while before going to pick Sophie up from work.

When she got home I showed her what we'd found and she tried on my wedding dress. Amazingly, it fitted her!

It looked more of a golden colour than I remembered so that may be something to do with the age of it (23 years!) and I would love to have it professionally cleaned and boxed up to save it. Sophie looked gorgeous in it but said she didn't really fancy wearing it at her own wedding, which I completely understood! It did feel a bit strange, though, seeing my daughter in my wedding dress!

I also showed her the beautiful baby clothes I'd kept and maybe, one day, her own daughter will wear them.

In the evening we went out with Paul and Sue to the Princess Alexandra pub in Northampton. The place was packed with people and very noisy, which seemed to set the tone for the night. We found seats in a corner and Keith and I were delighted to see an old wooden wine box for the Vieux Telegraphe vineyard that we'd visited years and years ago in Chateauneuf du Pape. The whole wall was covered with wine boxes which I thought was a great idea, even if the pub did specialise in craft beers!

We spent a couple of hours in the pub and I was able to try the Neapolitan Milk Stout again. Paul also bought three third of a pint of different beers to try, but we all preferred the ones we were drinking...

 From the Princess Alexandra we drove to The Star of India for dinner. This restaurant was also packed with people, including a particularly noisy group of women behind us who cackled loudly for the whole time we were there, plus a 50th Birthday party who were also determined to celebrate in the most raucous way possible as well!

We chose the set menu for four and there was so much food we could hardly fit it onto the table. We gamely worked our way through poppadums, two different starters of prawns and chicken, four main courses, rice and various side dishes, plus naan bread! Phew!