No cake!

The weather today has been a replica of yesterday with a warm and sunny morning and heavy, thundery downpours of rain in the afternoon. We took Sophie to work at 11am and then came home to trim back our garden before the weather changed. A corner of our garden adjoins the drive up to three houses next door and we had heard yesterday that one of the residents had an issue with the bushes being overgrown on the land next to ours. As we didn't want to get into trouble as well, we trimmed the hypericum and two conifers so they didn't branch out over the drive too much!

After all the rain and wind yesterday we also tidied up the front and I swept up yet more leaves from the verge. I just had time to go in and have a shower before I picked Mum up at 1.30pm as we were off to an Antiques Fair at Lamport Hall.

Nice plant - no idea what it is. I will ask Sue!

The weather was looking a bit dicey on the way over and thankfully the field we parked in was quite dry - I didn't fancy getting stuck in the mud! There were loads of stalls and straight away I spotted a beautiful small vase from Masons which would be perfect for a candle. It was £7.50, so a good price, and I said to the stall-holder that I would be back.

Most of the stalls were situated in the stable block but there were also some on the field behind the courtyard. I looked in vain for a tea and cake tent but only saw a Hog Roast from a local Butcher's. We wanted tea and cake!

Mum spotted a Masons Jug in the Regency pattern that she collects so she decided to splash out and buy it. As she didn't have enough cash the stall-holder took her over to the entrance cabin where she could pay by card. While I was there I asked about refreshments and was told that the Hog Roast was the only source of grub! Another woman came up to the cabin and started to complain vociferously about the lack of food choices as she had a vegetarian in her group. I said that as there'd been a resurgence of all things baking they would have made a mint if they'd offered afternoon tea! One of the main reasons we go to an antique or craft fair is for the lovely teas and bakes on offer!

Mum and I went back to the fair and enquired about an ice-cream but they'd run out! I went and bought the Masons vase and also a lovely little dish that was sitting in a £1 box and looking very sorry for itself! We decided that enough was enough and it was a good thing we did as on the way to Brixworth (to buy cake) the heavens opened and we had a cloud burst so bad I had to stay in the car before I could get out to the Co-Op!

When I eventually ran in I met Judy who is the wife of Keith's old manager from Black and Decker. We had a good chat and I have to say she was looking very well and was certainly enjoying retirement. I bought a walnut cake and we dashed home through flooded roads to make a pot of tea!

In the evening I tried out a new Hairy Bikers recipe - Chicken in a Brandy sauce. It was delicious but we couldn't taste a lot of Brandy, probably because Keith had burnt it all off when he flambeed the pan!