THE QUINTESSENTIAL ENGLISH AFTERNOON TEA ..........

Hertford has been the county town of Hertfordshire since Saxon times, and is 10 minutes away from where I live.

The town of Meryton in the Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice, is thought to have been

based on Hertford.

The town centre still follows the medieval layout, with many timber framed buildings. The first mention of the town was in 673 AD. By the time of the Domesday Book, Hertford had 2 churches, 2 markets and 3 mills.
The Parliament of England temporarily moved to Hertford during the Great Plague of London in 1665.That is why the square in the town is called Parliament Square.

..... but, it is also very up to date with some lovely restaurants. This one is Cafe Rouge, Although they are a chain of restaurants, it is like you are in the depths of France when you eat or have a
drink there.

I think that the above looks very French.

This is a really lovely florist in Hertford. Their displays are very rustic with old wooden boxes,

vintage terracotta pots and many rusty items.

Farrow and Farrow is a delicatessen filled with delicious Venison, Rabbit and Kidney and Guinness pies ( I just hope that Sweeney Todd isn't lurking around there somewhere !! ) They also sell Braughing sausages, made in the local village of Braughing, and very famous in sausage circles !!

Can you see those gi-normous meringues ? !!

Now, just past the doctor's surgery, which looks very similar to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's house, Number 11 Downing Street, London, don't ya think ?.............

...... then, turn left into a little 'Jack the Ripper' alleyway, and there before you is a delightful Tea Room and garden.

Once inside, it's like being in someones Victorian parlor. Tables laid with snowy white tablecloths, beautiful china, sofas around a cast iron fireplace, old fashioned high chairs, dressers and
overmantles.

After partaking in tea, sandwiches and cake, a little stroll along the river was called for.

Over the bridge ..........

.......... and pass the weir. How delightfully English it all was ..... BUT THEN, look what greeted us on our way back to the car.......... and, I promise you all that this was absolutely true. It's a bit out of focus, as I took it quickly because I didn't want him to see me !! ..........

WHAT A WONDERFUL SIGHT TO BEHOLD !!!!!!

I just hope that it hasn't put any of you off of your breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments and continued support.

Have a lovely weekend and make sure that your trousers fit properly and there is no builders bum on show !!!! haha

NIGHTS ( & LADIES ) IN WHITE SATIN !! .......... SEE WHAT I'VE DONE THERE ?!!

I love sleeping, so a lovely bed is a must. Here are a few seriously good ones :

Ever since I started blogging , I have found that I get such a kick out of finding beautiful images !! What is that all about ? Do you think that it means that I should get the new camera out and start brushing up on my photography ? It's definitely a thought.

I do have a bit of a 'thing' about iron beds....not so much the handcuffing to the bed type of thing !!... no , well, maybe !! haha no , the aesthetic look of them, I mean. I've loved them for years and we have three of them at the moment but, I would like another one in the fourth bedroom....or maybe I should keep the wooden bed in there. What do you think ? Am I going over the top with the iron bed's ?

I also have a bit if a 'thing' about lace panels....don't you just think they are so romantic ? They are not particularly trendy at the moment, but I love them.

A bit of a strange arrangement here, with the door. That table is definitely going flying when the next person walks in !! haha

I told you that I love sleeping !!

Where our daughter lives in London, there is a wonderful interiors shop called 'Of Special Interest'. I get many, many things in there. Well, they have now bought a cottage in Cornwall, which they rent out. It has been decorated beautifully with many things from their shop. The photograph above is the bedroom in the cottage......... I have that lamp, by the way...well, not that exact one....you know what I mean.

Just a reminder to head on over to see Simone @ The Bottom of the Ironing Basket
She is having a week....YES, you heard me correctly.... a week of giveaways and, what giveaways they are. They are wonderful. I will say no more. You must go and see for yourselves.....and, if you have never been to Simone's blog, well....just wait and see. Simone is also doing a 5k run for the Breast Cancer Campaign so, please go and support her and this wonderful cause.

Also, my blogging buddy, Julie @ Being Ruby is having another giveaway of her beautiful photographs. Julie takes the most wonderful photographs and gives them her special and unique touch. I'm sorry but you HAVE to go over and enter her giveaway.....that's an order !!

Last but absolutely NOT least, there is another, just as wonderful giveaway from Ingela @ Inspiration i Vitt, a beautiful Swedish blog. You must go and see her beautiful blog and be taken away on a cloud of white and all things beautiful.

I'm not sure why I'm telling you all about these fabulous giveaways as, my chances of winning are getting less and less by the minute !!

Oh well, I guess it's because I love to share and spread the love !!!!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone and, get entering those giveaways.

An embarrassing tag, a little poetic licence but funny !!

Hi everyone. I've been tagged by the lovely Kerry @ A Tranquil Townhouse and the wonderful Maggie @ The White Farmhouse and, I was supposed to show the sixth photograph that I ever posted BUT....... it was just a boring old bed from The White Company and would have been very boring Soooooooo .......... and this is where the poetic license bit comes in .......... I have bent the rules, and am posting the sixth photo from my store of pictures.

Now, this photograph was taken some twenty two years ago when, Mr. Home and I were mere slips of things and looked a lot younger than we do now !!!! Just bear that in mind when you look at the photographs and add a few..... I mean lots....of wrinkles to get a picture of what we look like now, although, my hair has been the same all of my life and Mr. Home has always had a beard but it's a little grey now !!!!

Are you all sitting comfortably ?.......... then I'll begin.

Twenty two years ago, Mr. Home and I were invited to Sunday lunch, with our two children, to our good friends beautiful Victorian home. We had been to their home many, many times and I loved it. A builder had built a whole road of houses in Victorian times and, he built and lived in the one that our friend's lived in, so, he had built this one to the highest spec and with the best of materials, as he was going to live there. Also coming to lunch were some mutual friends from Wales, who were staying with us. Well, we all arrived, drinks were served and we all reminisced for a while. Lunch was served, and we all sat around their beautiful, polished Victorian dining table to a delicious Sunday roast dinner. Now, our hostess was pregnant, which was wonderful , as they had had difficulties and had had IVF, which was obviously successful and, they were decorating the nursery. As we had seen the house many times, our host and hostess took our Welsh friends on a tour of the house. I decided to entertain the children for a while, as I had seen it all many times before. Everyone enjoyed dessert and, after lots of wine, I went upstairs to the bathroom. The room next to the bathroom was going to be the baby's room, so I thought that I would just take a peek at how they were getting on with the decorating and see what it was going to look like....... Oh yes, you know that you all would have done the same !!!! I opened the door and it was pitch black, so I just thought that I would go in a bit further, and then, the next thing I knew, I was up to my ***** on the floor with my leg hanging through the ceiling and, half of the ceiling was now on the floor in the hall downstairs !!!! They had been doing the electrics and had all of the floorboards up !!.... AND, they had just had the downstairs hall decorated !!

Can you see the tinge of red in my face ? Oh, was I embarrassed. If I had gone on the tour of the house with the other's, I would have known what was going on.


Here we are with a cup of tea after the event, so, they were really good about it and, it is still talked and laughed about 'till this day. Our children are now 30 and 28 so, you can see how long ago it was.I had bruises that were black, blue and green for ages.... and limped a bit, for a while !!!! I also didn't have anymore children after that !!!! haha

That has taught me not to be so nosey !!!!

Jackie

GREMLINS IN THE WORKS ........

Nasty little Gremlins have got into my laptop, and I'm not talking the adorable Mogwai, Gizmo here. No. I'm talking that horrid little creature , the Gremlin called Stripe. I'm sure that I didn't get water on my laptop, nor expose it to bright lights and, I definitely didn't feed it after midnight so....WHO DID ?!!!!

Investigations are now underway, laptop is now being repaired and, normal service should be resumed very shortly.

Jackie