after being woken nice and early by the neighbourhood cock around 4am, it was hard to get back to sleep. it was hot and the intermittent crowing was really annoying, and with the (what i now know to be tonsilitis) sore throat giving me ag, it was a fairly unpleasant way to wake up after one already long day. i guess we snoozed on and off while the rooster enjoyed his morning ritual, but by 7, we'd had enough and started to stir. by 8 we were up and showered, and by 9 were were sat in michael's garden, sipping iced coffee and planning the day ahead.
we headed out for a country breakfast at suffolk food hall by orwell bridge in ipswich. a favourite of michael's - and my only choice when given the options of "truck stop breakfast, funky bar breakfast, or farm house breakfast". we sat by the window in the early morning sun, and i watched on as the boys devoured their food while i simply pushed mine around my plate...my throat was just so painful that the toast i thought wouild help, really didn't! i was struggling to get drink down, let alone food, and i was starving. pity me!
after our 'breakfast' we jumped back in the car and head off to an antiques fair in snape that michael had heard about. snape, according to micahel, was about half an hour away. (the quote of the weekend, we were learning; everything in the country is half an hour away...) on the road to snape, maybe just outside of farnham, we drove past a field full of cars. i could see an ice cream van, lots of tressle tables, and people milling around open car boots... i knew what i was seeing before i saw the sign, but when i did, i yelled out "car boot sale!" with no abandon, and made michael turn around so we could venture in for a nosey.
we were there maybe 20 minutes, before we were back on the road, but we each nabbed one perfect item each before we left; michael picked up a vintage squash racquet, just because he liked how it looked in his hand. it was one pound. boyfriend was bullied (by me) into buying a gorgeous, vintage tan leather suitcase, simply because it was in such great condition and was only a couple quid! we'd never have found something that good a quality in london, and certainly not with that price tag. i was giddy about it! i picked up another retro record - this time the carpenters' now and then album, which is packed full of jams, and as yet we still have nothing to play it on. someone give me a record player pleeeaaaassseee! there were so many other awesome things there for pennies, but no way we could've got most of it back to london, which was a huge shame.
from the boot sale we headed to snape. which was maybe only another ten minutes away, but had a whole nother feel to it. where farnham was in the middle of the country side, snape was like a little lake-side village that was commercial and residential and marshland all rolled in to one. we parked up in a field and then walked through the stoney paths to the vintage fair outside the antique centre. it was such a lovely day - not too hot, but lovely and sunny, and again, managed to nab ourselves a few bargains.
snape was such a pretty little village - so picturesque and quaint. after our little walk around there (and obvious picture taking - everything was just so colourful!) we jumped back in the car and headed for food. we stopped in at a road-side cafe for some country-style lunch; cheese scones, sausage rolls and sparkling juices in the sun. the sun out in the country was so relaxing and warming, unlike that in london which is just hot, exhausting and sweat-inducing. behind the restaurant was a massive strawberry patch; no matter how much i begged the boys, they wouldn't let me go in and pick my own punnet. one of my favourite things to do with my cousins as a child on holidays in new zealand was to go strawberry picking, so seeing the giant patch brought back so many happy memories. boyfriend is right though, if i had gone in, i probably would have just got annoyed and given up anyway. oh well. i'll live vicariously through my childhood memories.
i feel like this post is really unhumourous. and, i'm sorry about that. i guess it wasn't really a funny weekend, despite being tones of fun and us seeing and doing so much stuff. i suppose sometimes i forget that people read my rubbish, and just expect that a commentary of my weekend will suffice for my mum (who is really the only person who reads everything i write). please don't stop reading because one post was really lame!
boyfriend and i had a brilliant weekend hanging out in suffolk with michael, and he was every bit the perfect tour guide. from iced coffees in his backyard with fur babies jasper and purdy (that's jasper at the top!), to long, windy drives into nowhere, we laughed, gossiped and chatted nutil our throats were sore -- oh wait, that was just me.
here's a shameless plug for michael, because he is one funky cat and if you're into gardening, or home shopping, then you'll be into him too. he's the next alan titchmarsh - but with better hair.
