Saturday indulgence

Sophie and I, after a lovely relaxed start to the day, drove to Market Harborough this morning for lunch and some shopping. We went to Just So Italian first and enjoyed a coffee and pastry each. As usual, the ambience was great and the food delicious.

Sophie didn't want to visit any charity shops today, as she felt she had enough clothes, so we concentrated on bookshops instead. Outside Waterstones, she ran into a friend from work, and they had a good look at the books on the ground floor, while I went up to the second floor and mooched about there. Sophie ended up buying several interesting-looking books, and we headed for the Oxfam next. On the way, we spotted a new art gallery, and we were drawn in! There were some beautiful works of art, and we spotted one by Damien Hirstent! A lot of the artwork was priced in the hundreds of pounds, but we saw a couple that were tens of thousands! I know that Market Harborough is an affluent town, and Leicestershire a rich county, but the gallery looked like it would be at home on any elite London street (and in fact, later, when I looked them up, they do!).

In the Oxfam shop we both bought books, and I picked up a great hardback book by Bill Bryson, "The Road to Little Dribbling." It was only £2.99! 

From the bookshop, we popped into an old-fashioned bedding/towels/carpet shop as I was on the hunt for king-size pillowcases, something I find difficult to find. I did find some, so I'll make a note for future reference. My pay this month has been dire, as I owed the company holiday pay (well, we did go for it in the first six months of this year!) and the expenditure will have to be carefully watched until I get paid again!

It didn't stop us from having lunch at the little Thai, though, and we enjoyed prawn crackers, fishcakes and chicken moneybags followed by Mussamun curry with chicken. We chose a small glass of wine each and a bottle of sparkling water. After we'd paid the bill, we called in to see Duncan, had wine tasting, and bought a bottle of wine each. It was great to chat with Nick and Duncan and catch up with their news.

Our last stop before going home was The Wine Shed, and we sat outside enjoying the lovely afternoon sunshine. It was relaxing to sit and natter and do some people watching!

Minutes before our parking ticket expired, we returned to the car and drove home via the scenic route (Maidwell and Draughton). Along the way, we stopped to take some photos of the sun-baked countryside:

Sophie and Olive

Back home, Keith was out watching Sileby play and Sophie and I pootled about before deciding to watch the film Copycat starring Sigourney Weaver and Dermot Mulroney. We don't normally watch films so early in the evening, so it made it a bit of a treat! While watching, we later enjoyed a plate of garlicky doughballs, and I made a strawberry Eton Mess. Delicious!

We finished our evening with The Proms and the beautiful Concerto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo! It was so gorgeous, it brought a tear to my eye!