Friday 30 December 2016

Festive Times.

I hope you have all been having the Christmas break you crave be it busy and bustling, or quiet and peaceful.

I had to work right up to the last minute but Soo and I did got one last very atmospheric trip out. We headed to Burford to finish up some last minute shopping and catch up with our friend Jenny who couldn't meet us out. So after shopping and a delicious lunch we dropped in on her for a much needed cup of tea and to exchange gifts, both Christmas and birthday, yes it's been a while since we last caught up!

It was a cold and very foggy Saturday, the fog hardly shifted all day much like today if the scene outside my window is anything to go by.
Burford has one long High Street so it makes sense to go up one side and down the other. It's a mix of high end chi-chi boutique-y shops and little independent shop and we both managed to get all the last minute bits we were after.

There was one rather mad shop which I've forgotten the name of now, filled with a eclectic mix of vintage, modern and charity shop items. I kid you not, there were items still with charity shop price tags attached! It has to be said the actual pricing of items was as mad as the shops contents, but neither of those were as mad as the woman behind the till. Frankly she was terrifying!

She stood there bellowing at every new person who stepped through the door, mostly about the glass Christmas decorations she was selling, that they MUST be looked at because they were 'Ex-John Lewis stock'.
I managed to dodge her, or so I thought, and was minding my own business quietly browsing when all of a sudden she appeared at my side insisting that I look at said decorations in her booming voice before physically moving me to their display basket!
I realised the only escape was to look in the basket, surely they would be ok? I mean after all they were 'Ex-John Lewis stock'......
Well as Soo put it, one imagines that particular buyer for John Lewis was in search of new employment right after choosing this Christmas range!?! Hideous is the only word that springs to mind.

Thankfully another customer/victim came in the shop which distracted her enough for me to escape and flee to the back of the shop.
I took a picture of this picture in said shop because, well, it summed it up very well.

Lunch proved surprisingly difficult to come by as oddly various of Burford's cafes were shut. So we ended up in The Golden Pheasant for a very delicious sandwich. All in all a good day out.

I also went to see the new Star Wars (of course) not a midnight screening this time but straight after my last pilates class of 2016! So I rushed home, changed, went to pilates, rushed back from pilates, changed again, shoved a bit of toast in my gob and rushed to the cinema. Well worth all the rushing though.  

This proved to be my theme for Christmas really, with more rushing about. Himself headed off to Margate on Christmas Eve and I headed to my brother's as we had my Dad over for a few hours.
We are allowed to take him out for 3 hours providing we use the correct transport and it is in a certain radius of his care home.
It went really well and Dad had a great time. Mum came and stayed the night with me before heading over to Dad's home the next day for the first of our two Christmas dinners!

From there back to my brother's for dinner number two then home with Mum for a few days.
So all in all a good Christmas despite not feeling even the slightest bit festive.
I did very well in the book and DVD department.
I also got Godzilla from Himself after I fell in love with him in Forbidden Planet, (somewhere I go to under sufferance it must be said.)
 To the right is my nod to Christmas, no room for a tree in this house and I couldn't be arsed with it all anyway, so I stood a few snowmen from the collection on a little side table along with Rudolph who was another gift from Himself.

Tonight we are off to The Rocky Horror Picture Show in Oxford. I shall be wearing the just for the hell of it cat print dress I bought last month.
Well, that's me. I'm still debating whether I have enough material to do my usual annual frock disaster round up. It's not been a usual year so I'm not sure I have enough to delight you with!

7 comments:

  1. It sounds like you had a pretty hectic Christmas!

    I love your dress with the cats - such bright cheerful colours. It will certainly cheer up the gloom and greyness that is today!

    Hope you enjoy the film tonight.

    Happy New Year to you and himself!

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  2. Phew you've been busy! Your frock has great colour and a fab print, I'm imagining you in it right now doing the time warp in the aisle. X

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  3. Oh, Burford! I have been there a couple of times but only in summer of course. The last time I was there it was during a heatwave! It must look quite different this time of year. I really enjoyed your hilarious account of that shop. At least, if I ever visit Burford again, I'm warned. I love, love, love your cat dress. Just the thing to do the time warp ... err watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show! xxx

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  4. That woman in the shop sounded grim - people like that make me shudder. I usually turn and walk back out again! I haven't stopped off to shop in Burford for many years, as I usually drive straight through it. Hope you had a great time at Rocky Horror

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  5. I wonder if the shop owner has always been mad or she's like me, and she's slowly being driven mad by the general public! What a crazy sounding shop.
    Hope Rocky Horror was fun. xxx

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  6. That shop owner sounds frightening lolol!!!
    Loving the dress to the Rocky Horror Show!
    The holidays are always a rush :D

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  7. Oooh, you did get a good haul of books and DVDs. That lot should see you through January nicely. It's good to know you had a fun Christmas.

    The eccentric shop sounds very odd indeed. The sort of place you'd have to really want something from to be prepared to venture into.

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