Car Heaven in The Cotswolds (Plus Some Sewing & Shopping)

 

Yesterday Claire,Gareth, Jon and I escaped The Black Country for an afternoon in the glorious Cotswold village of Bourton-on-the-Water.

It seemed like most of the UK had the same idea and despite my photos making Bourton-on-the-Water look empty, it was bustling with tourists. With all the car parks full we parked a mile or so out of town and were forced to pop into The New Old Inn for a restorative beer.

Our destination was the Cotswold Motoring Museum, set within a former 17th Century watermill and housing a huge collection of memorabilia and motors spread over 7500ft².

The amount of stuff on display was truly astonishing and had us captivated for hours. 

Find out more HERE.

After getting distracted by a charity shop and an antiques emporium we wandered into the nearest pub only to find the lunch menu had finished so headed off thirty minutes up the road to Ye Olde Hobnails Inn, the 15th Century hostilery where we'd eaten after we'd run away to the circus last spring. (HERE)

After three ginormous portions of fish and chips and an equally large portion of pumpkin & chickpea curry for me, we exchanged gifts and made plans for another outing very soon. 

Thanks for our fantastic things, Claire and Gareth! Despite my lousy track record I promise to do my best to keep Cactus Cawood alive (named after everyone's favourite spiky detective from Happy Valley).

With all this galavanting, I've only just managed to put away this week's charity shop finds.....and there's rather a lot, the Kinky Shed's full!

Clockwise from top left: 1970s Handmade in Portugal suede shoes; Monsoon blouse; 1970s Llama wool shawl by Jacqmar; Zara Man military jacket (now in Jon's wardrobe); Susan Gravar (QVC) tapestry jacket; 1970s wool & mohair scarf woven in Grasmere; Wada, Indian pompom trim cape with £51.99 tags still attached; Moroccan pink leather babouches (now mine!); DKNY gents wool pea coat; Indian block printed cotton tunic; Indian sari fabric skirt; Boden linen top (still on their website reduced to £49 from £70, now in my summer suitcase); Karishma Couture beaded prom dress (new with tags, retailed at $495); "Made in Italy" linen and cotton tunic; Diesel "Moody Woody" clogs (TKMaxx tags still attached, retailed at $325 last summer).

Clockwise from top left: Clarks suede ankle boots; Vatpaiv, Hawaii shirt; Mexican woven hooded jerga; Muji alpaca wool cardi; Gypsy Soul maxi skirt; 1970s Scottish-made sheepskin jacket; White Stuff tiered maxi skirt; 1990s Ann Brooks UK-Made cashmere & wool belted jacket; Saks 5th Avenue purple patent mac;  West African waxed cotton sundress, "tailor-made in London"; Topshop embellished cotton tunic with £34.99 tags still attached (another one for my summer suitcase!); 1980s Hawick Knitwear lambswool sweater; Ugg sheepskin-lined clog boots (now in Liz's shoe cupboard); Amazing 1980s handknit jumper. 

And 'cos I know you like to see the contents, here's last week's Lidl £1.50 Waste Not box...another good one!

Frida Kahlo in New York, by Nickolas Muray, 1939. © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives

After following the V&A tutorial for the crochet folk collar a couple of weeks ago I was inspired to have a bash at making up their downloadable pattern for a Mexican-style Huipil, the traditional sleeveless tunic often worn by Frida Kahlo. 

Mexi Desi - made from an old velvet curtain and a shedload of Indian and Afghan trimmings from my stash.

Mexi Bouquet:  I spotted this 1940s/1950s embroidery linen in the 50p bucket in the charity shop this morning. It was too pretty to do more than cut out the neckline and sew it up. 

Thanks for the questions - my make-up, skincare and fitness regime coming up in my next post.

See you soon!