Somewhere a bit different!

As Sundays have been designated "Fundays" Sophie and I had a discussion about what we were going to do today. She is back at uni tomorrow so she deliberately kept today free to do something fun.

After a bit of wrangling we decided to go to the interesting bar we'd spotted in Derngate in Northampton and then head off to Homesense as I needed a new bedsheet and I wanted to look at storage boxes.

First of all, though, I asked her to help me put the colour on my hair and while that was doing its work I tried out a new facepack I'd bought in Boots. I looked like Hannibal Lecter with it on, as it was a white face mask that was supposed to "smooth away tiny lines and hydrate the skin"...hmmm! I went around the house jumping out on Mike and Keith who were not impressed!

Once I'd showered and dried my hair (no grey!) I took Mike to work with Keith and then returned home to find Sophie all ready as well. We drove into Northampton and parked in St John's before walking the short distance to Foodies Rocks, a cocktail bar/restaurant specialising in street food from around the world.

We were the only ones in there at first and we were seated by a very pretty waitress who told us to order 2-3 dishes, write our choices down on a little card and then go to the bar to pay. We chose two portions of the Korean Sriracha double fried chicken served with mooli, the Edamame Hummus and the Pork Gyoza. We also enjoyed a small glass of wine each and although it was a bit expensive - about £6 for each dish - the food was out of this world! The chicken, in particular, was delicious and perhaps the best I've ever tasted as it was sticky and moist and served with a "mooli" which turned out to be white radish, almost like a coleslaw and utterly gorgeous!

I chose the hummus which was served with small slices of fried bread and covered with chilli flakes, wakame seaweed and sesame seeds. Sophie's other dish consisted of pork dumplings served with a delicious soy dip. We found room for dessert and ordered Portuguese custard tarts served with berries and sublime churros accompanied by a hazelnut and chocolate sauce.

The bill came to just over £40 for the two of us which I didn't think was bad for lunch with a glass of wine, and we were certainly full when we left. Other people had come in as we ate so I was glad to see the place a bit busier. Downstairs they have an art gallery and table football and they put on lots of live events. We will definitely be back!

We returned to the car and drove to Homesense which was busier than I expected! Maybe it was because of the large Halloween display and the Christmas stuff creeping in as well? There's no escaping either celebration! I found a sheet for our bed and looked at the storage boxes but I really wanted a file where we could store important papers. Sophie bought a badge for her denim jacket and I also put a loaf tin in our basket as the one we currently have is very manky!

Sophie and I have decided that instead of pushing on with collecting hearts for the conservatory, we will collect naff sayings to put on the walls of the cloakroom. We have four hearts for this year but we haven't been able to decide on where to display them and we didn't want it to start looking tacky. There was nothing we liked at Homesense so we drove to the garden centre at Harlestone and had a look there. We visited the fish area first and I became a little too interested in a sad-looking puffer fish that kept staring at me. His eyes followed me and I was almost on the brink of buying an aquarium just for him! However, I don't like any animals, birds or fish kept in a confined environment so I said goodbye and tore myself away from his sad little face.

We had a quick look in the pets' section and spotted this:

Beer and wine for dogs and cats! Is there no end to the madness? However, I couldn't resist buying a bottle of the beer for Sue and Paul's dogs, Bailey and Archie, as we are around there for dinner soon and it might cause a giggle.

Unfortunately we didn't see any naff sayings (Live.Love.Laugh or whatever will have to be the first!) so we headed home and relaxed in the conservatory while Keith watched Newcastle play.

When we went to pick up Mike the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it had become very windy. Apparently ex-Hurricane Maria is going to pay us a visit over the next couple of days!