Dog days

Rather appropriately, I thought, I spotted this sun dog in the sky the other day. 

 As we await the start of the building work, due to begin at the end of August, and are in limbo until it is completed, I realised that this time of year is also referred to as the dog days.  Days of warm weather and stagnation, neither moving forward nor back, becalmed and on hold. Exactly how I feel then!

Ah well, at least we had a lovely warm and lazy day over in beautiful Shropshire last Friday, visiting the English Heritage managed Buildwas Abbey and the rarely open Morville Hall (a tenanted National Trust property).

The weather was quite cloudy and the wind had a chill to it when we reached Buildwas, a fairly compact abbey near Telford.  

There were swallows (or were they swifts?) swooping around the grounds, picking off midges for lunch.  Of course, try as I might I couldn't photograph any of them!

I love all the stonework, and the marks where the roof was fixed

No, I have no idea why I'm pointing at the sign either!

 The ceiling is amazing, and in superb condition, considering it must be over 800 years old

Part of the floor is still covered in these beautiful glazed tiles

We had tea and cake in the tiny car park, which was secluded and surrounded by blackthorn

Unfortunately, Buildwas is closed for the Winter on the first of October, otherwise I'd be back for these sloes.

We then had a leisurely drive to Morville Hall, a place we had not intended to visit.  It is tenanted and only open to the public for eight days a year.  Coincidentally, it was open on Friday so we popped in.  What a stunning place it turned out to be, with friendly and knowledgeable staff too! 

 In the photos above, you can see the ha-ha,  to keep the livestock out 

As the property is occupied, photography is limited inside the house, they ask that you do not take photos of the family photographs and the children's bedrooms, but I didn't want modern furniture in my shots either so these are all I took.

Stunning old door

 Elizabethan plaster ceiling in the kitchen!!

Lovely stone fireplace in the hallway

Fabulous views from the master bedroom, I wouldn't want to get up

Amazing views from the dining room too

Outside the weather was hot and sticky, but the garden was cool in parts and extremely fragrant

 Our garden arch is coming along, but doesn't look as good as this one

We had a picnic lunch in the car park, well, field.

Then wandered round the churchyard and into the cool of the church, dedicated to St Gregory the Great

Even the sheep are in the shade

Beautiful lychgate

The door has some beautiful old ironwork

The note is to remind visitors to close the door behind them to keep birds out.

Inside was cool an escape from the heat outside

We drove home through Kinver, where we stopped for a woodland stroll

Today's outfit: M&S ozone jeans, free with vouchers, refashioned Ebay top £4.89, Spirit bag

£1, sparkly denim lace up Vans £1 and Crocs sandals old and bought in sale (I changed footwear halfway through the day!) Toes painted in new charity shopped Revlon nail polish 33p.

I've eased off on the charity shop bargains this week, with the build approaching I don't need more stuff to store.  I snapped up this shirt I had spotted the day before for £3.99, now reduced to £1.  I've already removed those pesky sleeve tabs, and the drawstring from the hemline.

In the same shop I purchased these three items for a pound for the lot. I'm now wearing the Revlon, the colour is After Party

Finally, yesterday I purchased this Red Herring jacket for a pound, to replace a check jacket I donated after seeing how unflattering it was in photos!

I also purchased this lovely skirt, I want the fabric and will try to refashion it into a top, watch this space!  It was a pound, and is black, despite looking a bit washed out in the photo.

Hopefully, I will have photos of a finished garden arch to show you next week, and maybe the start of the summerhouse too!