Lunch like a Lady

 Following our tradition of celebrating not just our birthdays, but also the 6 month mark, Gorgeous Husband took me to lunch for my half-birthday at Lady B's tea room at Attingham Park. There really was a Lady B (it stands for the eighth Lady Berwick) and her "tea room" is located in the outer library. And very swanky it is too.

The Lady relaxes in front of the fire, awaiting her lunch of finger sandwiches and pasteries.



The maid brings the lunch on a trolly.

Outside, the weather was spitting rain, and one of the first days of true autumn weather. How lovely to sit by the fire and have the most delicious morsels brought to you. Maybe I was an aristocrat in a past life, because I certainly didn't mind "playing the part" in this life. The lovely dotted dress is from Bonmarche, who asked me if I would model some clothes for them. (Little did they realize it was a childhood ambition of mine to be a model, until I didn't grow up tall enough to be one!) The dress retails for £22 and you can get it from their phone order line 0845 202 4490, or google Bonmarche.co.uk.



Sorry it's a bit blurred.  Too much excitement for Dear Husband.  The dress has a nice peplum, straight skirt, and 3/4 length sleeves.  Washable and doesn't wrinkle. I wore it with a navy and white polka dot bangle.



My Pal

I love this photo.  This is my pal, Joan.  As my friend and I call her, The Poster Girl for Age UK.  She is so full of life and fun, despite her health problems. She's 84, and has the most beaming smile of anyone I've ever seen.

She told me that she loves to have fun with her clothes, and isn't worried if it is the latest fashion or not.  "As long as I like it, that's all that matters," she said.  Indeed, every day, and every clothing choice seems to be an adventure for her.

The Tibetan necklace that I am wearing is a gift from her.  She bought it when she lived in China in a little shop near to the Tibetan border.  "Going to China changed my life, " she told me.  "Before that, I was someone's wife, and someone's daughter, and someone's mother.  But when I went to China, I could just be me!"  She began that adventure in her 50s.

I will treasure the necklace, and our time together, as they are both part of a priceless legacy.

Well, it says it all it, doesn't it?

Every once in  a while, you see something in a shop window that just sums things up perfectly.  Or almost so, at any rate.  This is from our trip to Lille, France.

What the well dressed French man wears?  Or not.



Photos to Go with Prague Trivia

 So sorry that the computer has "erased" all the paragraph breaks from the last post. Originally each Trivia point was a separate paragraph. Apologies if you think I can't punctuate!




Standing in front of the bridge that is full of lovers' padlocks, vowing eternal love.





The doughnut like thing.  Not fried, roasted and dipped in sugar.  Wasps optional.

 

Some Trivia About Prague

This is not a travelogue about Prague, and after all, we were only there two days, but I thought I would mention a few pieces of trivia I picked up. Apologies in advance if I get anything wrong, I'm just recounting what the tour guide said, and what we experienced, and as much as my memory will allow. As I am having problems adding photos to my posts, I will publish the trivia first, and it will be followed with a SEPARATE POST with the images. (Sorry for it not being all together. Blame the computer being "difficult".) Trivia Item One: Apparently the first showing ever of Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" was in Prague, and Mozart had a better reception for his work in Prague than in Vienna. Trivia Item Two: there is a bridge full of padlocks with lovers names on them to symbolize their eternal love. This is a copycat gesture from the novel "I Want You" by Federico Moccia. Trivia Item Three: Czechs like a doughnut type of sweet called TRDELNIK. The dough is wrapped around and around a metal rod and roasted over hot coals, then dipped in sugar. Very popular, both with people and wasps. I ignored the beasties and tried it. It was nice, but more of a bread texture than a doughnut. Trivia Item Four: The Communist Museum and McDonalds are next door to each other. Ironic or what? Trivia Item Five: According to our tour guide, the Star of David, as a symbol of the Jews, was first used in Prague. Trivia Item Six: Prague is a very popular city for Russians to get married in, and they like to have their photos taken in some of the historic locations. I did overhear two "body guard" looking type fellows speaking Russian in front a limosene at the castle, waiting for the wedding party, and also saw Russians having their photos taken on Charles Bridge in their wedding outfits. Trivia Item Seven: Performances of plays and literature are very dear to the Czech people, as there was a movement to try to stamp out the Czech language. So many people wanted to attend live performances that there weren't enough actors to go round, so puppets were used instead. Puppets are still a common sight in a lot of shops and people buy them as souvenirs of Prague. A whole craft industry has grown up producing some very elaborately carved and beautifully decorated puppet characters. Will post images separately in the next post. Tootles for now!