Rainy days and Sundays

...always get me down.

After a very frosty spell a couple of weeks ago, we've had dampness and gloom since.  I hate damp and gloomy weather, Winter to me should be frosty lilac skies, crisp underfoot and cold, dry air you can see your breath in.

Like this, taken in 2010 on a December walk along the local canal (when we lived in Birmingham), it must be the prettiest electricity sub station. 

I remember this quite clearly, lots of animal (and human!) tracks across the frozen canal, snow from November to January, thick icicles everywhere, like these

Not so this year, rain and plenty of fog, so the order of the day is to get out and about and forget about the non seasonal weather.

So, last Friday we headed out to Broadway via Evesham. I forgot to take photos in Evesham, it was completely gridlocked and took us over 20 minutes to travel a few hundred yards, we were so relieved to find the car parks had plenty of spaces.  

Evesham is home to some incredibly old buildings, and the drive there, down the back road not the dual carriageway, is very pretty.  I took these photos just three weeks ago, but they now have Christmas decorations up 

The top building is now home to tourist information and is also a little museum, the bottom building stands proudly alone in the centre of a public square and is home to the local branch of a major high street bank.

Broadway, on the other hand, was easy to drive into, although parking was difficult, as it usually is.  We actually stopped for our packed lunch up by Broadway tower, where we have discovered an isolated car park with picnic area and facilities.

After our picnic lunch we headed down into Broadway for a stroll around the shops, I do like window shopping in places with small independent shops, and can't resist a mooch through the two charity shops in Broadway, which this time drew a blank.

No matter, the street view and shop fronts were pretty and we had a nice stroll around.

  Every time I take a photo here, the place looks empty!  The car park showed that the place was busy, and every shop and eating place was in fact full.

My favourite shop, they always have a pretty display, and the small panes of glass give it a very Dickensian feel

We generally browse through every shop which is open, and usually find interesting things.

I'm pretty sure the shop on the left is where I found St Eval diffuser oil, something I've wanted to try for ages but wasn't willing to pay £25 for the oil, special holder and reeds. 

The refill bottle is £7.99 and the reeds were unused from a previous purchase.  So far it smells delicately Christmassy!

On Sunday we ventured out to a Christmas market in a nearby village, Wolverley.  They have an ancient village hall and are raising money to replace it. 

Entry was £1 each and we had to have a go on the pick-a-straw at  £2 a go, although every straw was a winner. We got to choose our prizes and picked these two for the Christmas tree

Aren't they cute?

Onwards, with our picnic basket, to Dudmaston Estate, a National Trust managed property in Shropshire, which we discovered was closing on Monday for the season.  We parked up and enjoyed our lunch before heading into the estate. The house had already closed to the public (it is still used as a private residence) so we couldn't rummage in the second hand bookshop either.

A walk was in order, so off we set for a wander through the woods.

Outfit details for fellow pennypinchers: John Partridge jacket Ebay £10 plus postage, boots from Original Factory shop £17.60, Next denim skirt, old and charity shopped, and black Wallis leggings, free with vouchers from my cashback credit card.

Plenty of water in the stream.  

Back at the house, we had a look through the kitchen garden and shop

Blackbird was quite happy mooching for bits to eat in the raised beds.

The magnificent corkscrew hazel has an eerie feel

So strange wandering around with hardly another soul about, we've had picnics in this orchard in the Summer when it has been ridiculously busy

The clock tower, big enough to live in, I like to imagine being able to convert places like this to live in, how homely it could be. 

We popped in to Bodenham Arboretum on our way home, for a cup of tea and to feed the ducks.

It soon gets dark now as we near the shortest day, thankfully nature put on a pretty display of colour in the sunset, and the drive home down empty country lanes was very pleasant

 Arriving home, the sunset was much richer in colour and I didn't want to close the curtains on the view from the lounge 

Another weekend over and back to the normal routine, trying to go food shopping amongst the Christmas rush of shoppers, no doubt.

I hope you all have had a pleasant weekend!



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