Soaked!

We awoke to grey skies and heavy rain which was a shame as we'd planned on going to a Food Festival in Market Harborough today. It didn't put us off going but I felt really sorry for the people who'd organised it. I think the weather is going to be better tomorrow, thank goodness!

We had a lazy morning and I felt extremely proud when England beat New Zealand in the semi-final of the Rugby in Japan! What an outcome! After showering and getting ready we sloshed our way over to Market Harborough at about 11.30am. I had a feeling we'd have difficulty finding a space, but we located one in our usual car park and after paying for three hours (!) we set off for Starbucks to have a coffee.

Everyone was walking around in rain macs and carrying umbrellas and the weather didn't let up at all. The Food Festival was held in the main square and there were several stalls grouped around together with some dining tents set up in the middle. Predictably, nobody was sitting eating but the smells wafting about were delicious!

There was a sausage stall, one selling Asian street food, a tent with scarves and hats and a French cheese producer who gave us some to try. It was delicious! However, I was getting more and more soaked by the water dripping off the tent roofs and the umbrella Sophie was carrying and the moisture had seeped through to the top I was wearing underneath my raincoat. Sophie sampled a toffee vodka from one stall and bought a small bottle to enjoy later this evening. She was asked for ID before she could sample any!

As it was so cold and wet we decided not to have lunch in the Food Festival and I suggested Farndon Fields instead. After buying a newspaper we gave up with the weather as I was well and truly soaked and we returned to the car after only about an hour!

Market Harborough is prone to flooding because of the Welland river that runs through it and as we splashed our way over to the farm shop the roads were covered in water. As usual, Farndon Fields was busy but we finally managed to bag a space and ran into the building.

The queue was very long and stretched right out into the shopping area, but we patiently waited, ogling all the lovely foodstuffs while we inched forward. For the first time, we were seated upstairs and it was lovely and quiet. I deliberated for ages over the menu, choosing in the end, giant couscous with skewered chicken. Sophie went for her usual choice of chicken and bacon sandwich and the food was delicious, as always. It just brings it home to me how bad the service was last week at The Garden Barn!

After we'd eaten we mooched about the farm shop and bought lots of goodies - goat's cheese, oat biscuits, sourdough bread, veggies for the curry we were supposed to be having tonight, stuffed olives and a bottle of Ginger Ale to go with Sophie's toffee vodka. I marvelled at how beautiful the array of vegetables were:

So many varieties of tomato!

The weather outside was still grey and horrible and we drove home through sodden fields to put the heating on and get cosy!

We all decided to abandon the idea of curry for dinner and instead, while watching Strictly, we munched on the grilled goat's cheese on crusty bread, olives, grapes and some smoked cheese that Sophie found in the fridge. Afterwards we returned to 1998 and watched Michael Douglas in A Perfect Murder. It was a perfect end to a lovely day, despite the weather!