Thursday 31 May 2012

Topshop Ties the Knot!



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Hipster brides-to-be rejoice! Church bells are ringing & confetti is being thrown over at the church of Sir Philip Green, because on Tuesday, Topshop unveiled their very first BRIDAL line! Gasp! Excuse us for a moment while we turn into swooning idiots.


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With no weddings to plan or attend this year, we can't quite work out why we're so excited either, but we’re thrilled to see that bridal wear is finally getting a style makeover! The capsule collection, ‘Tie the Knot’ is collaboration between Topshop and UK designer, Richard Nicoll, taking Nicoll's signature style of casual, femininity, tinged with a grunge vibe, influenced by the UK high street.


The collection consists of seven dresses in classic fabrics of chiffon, lace & silk, beautiful shift dresses and stunning flowy dresses, in a feminine palette of white & blush.


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Whilst a few of the dresses are probably too similar to those lurking in the depths of the Twee Towers wardrobes (lace shift dress we’re talking about you, too cute!) we love that Topshop are encouraging the innovativeness that currently resides on the UK high street to creep into this market, and pushing British designers to take on the task of creating bridal wear that is both modern & affordable.


What does everyone else think? Would you wear good old Toppers on your wedding day?

On other news, we both have the day off today to tackle... the garden. Wish.Us.Luck.

Much love,
L&R xx

Wednesday 30 May 2012

Twee Troubles // Pale and Interesting



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The sun is out out, the sky is blue, there's not a cloud to spoil the view... Yes the UK has been rejoicing and reveling in the glorious sunshine this week, yet it is not so joyous for some of us inflicted with the hereditary condition known as 'Pale Skin'

Throughout the rest of the year and all other seasons our alabaster skin is sheathed beneath opaque tights, and coordinating cardigans, long sleeved dresses and other such reflective skin barriers - our wardrobes are so well equiped for the dullness that represents at least 80% of British Weather that we've been struggling to cope in the sunshine...

The length of the majority of our dresses is just about appropriate with tights, however by not wearing tights and avoiding sweltering we are approaching levels of indecent exposure, having barely 2 or 3 suitable dresses between us we've spent much of this week quizzing each other on every outfit - "Can I get away with this dress for work?!" - not only at risk of flashing 'les derrieres' - there is also the issue of having skin so glaringly white that those passing us without sunglasses are at risk of being blinded...

Not only do we struggle with clothing but one must also be covered head to toe in factor 50 lest we develop a 'Celtic Tan', in the most painful shades of lobster red. We could of course fake that sun kissed look, but we're not sure we can handle smelling faintly of cat pee...

So, we keep hearing that 'Pale is Interesting' - is it because one's skin is so transparent when this pale that we can see our veins? "Ooh I can see your de-oxygenated blood pulsating through your body, fascinating..." 

We are attempting to steer clear of orange tinted sheets and a synthetic glow, however shielding ones eyes every time the sunlight catches a pasty limb is proving a little tiresome... Sigh, is pale interesting enough to sustain us through this summer? 

Is anyone else as translucent as us? How do you handle summer dressing dilemmas? Think we'd best go shopping for some longer dresses...

Much love,
R&L xx

Monday 28 May 2012

After Dinner Dance Party // It's Summertime and Living is Easy

Hey amigos,


Hope you've all had a truly spiffing weekend! We've been in love with the recent rise in temperatures and in between the many events of the week, we have had been creeping out to spent some time in the sun whenever we can! Between us we've had a fancy dress 60th birthday celebrations (where a Miss Rhi made an appearence as J-J-J-Jessie J) whilst Lauren took an eve to babysit Little M, who was a little gem. Saturday night was so much fun, drinks with friends, watching The Moons perform and then a boogie at our favourite club night. We finished the weekend with a family Christening, and finally, some rest and sleep! 


For this week's After Dinner Dance Party, we're spinning some of our essential summertime tracks... 



 
A teenage fave. The Strokes, 'Is This It' gets constant plays on the Twee Towers jukebox, but it's an absolute essential at this time of year. We're sure that Summer, more than any other season craves that feeling of teenage excitement... especially when Julian Casablancas & Albert Hammond Jr is involved! 



We came across Diane Birch in 2010 when she billed on the same festival line up as James in a run of gigs he did with The Lightning Seeds. We got hold of her album shortly after and it spent that summer on repeat. Adore this soulful, poppy number and the video is amaze too!





Last but certainly not least, the sensational Coconut Grove by The Lovin' Spoonful! This song instantly conjures up wishful dreams of faraway lands with a cool sea breeze! Enjoy... 


Next weekend is set to be another fab one as the Queen's Jubilee is almost upon us. What's everyone got planned for the long break?


Much love, 
Lauren & Rhi xx

Friday 25 May 2012

Friday Flicks // Dark Shadows

Another Cinema trip for Rhi and her younger sister Livvy - last weekend we caught up with Gothic director extraordinaire Tim Burton's adaptation of the 1960s series, Dark Shadows, , and once again Rhi found herself completely distracted from the film thanks to the fashion fest throughout the film (She makes a habit of this, see: Hunger Games vs Devil Wears Prada) ...





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Well known is the dream team of Depp & Burton, the pair have been knocking all other movies off the top of my favourites lists with each new release for as long as I can remember. However, I always get most excited when reading that my most admired costume designer of all time, oscar winning Colleen Atwood, has once again been drafted in to dress the characters in Burton's films (a la Edward Scissor Hands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Alice in Wonderland, Big Fish & Sweeney Todd - not to mention her work outside of Burton's films in Chicago, Lemony Snicket and Memoirs of a Geisha - to name but a few). I don't think I have mentioned before, but while at London College of Fashion I had aspirations of working in Costume Design for film, so Atwood is somewhat of a heroine of mine, I get a little fangirly over her fantastical creations - so please bear with me!



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The 1970s setting really worked so well with Burton's style of contrasting riotous colour with darkness, with costume and set design - like Edward Scissor Hands and his gothic figure standing out against the candy coloured suburban backdrop. Apparently the vast majority of the costumes were purposely created for the film - with a few vintage finds thrown in for authenticity (I spy original Ossie Clark on HBC in one of those promo pics, actually let out a squeal when I saw it!). Highlights above include: Victoia's capelet (swoon!); Eva Green in that jaw dropping red number (I could turn...); Chloe Moretz in the most amazing array of print dresses (especially that bib fronted one, want it and/or need it!); Michelle Pfeiffer's Karen Carpenter via Morticia Addams looks (apparently inspired by a David Bailey book entitled 'The Birth of Cool' - currently going for £300 on amazon, who wants to get me an early extravagant birthday present...?); Helena Bonham Carter's blouses with pinafore ensembles paired with an orange wig and huge sunglasses (essential due to her characters perpetual state of 'hungover') and, of course, in any incarnation or costume - Johnny Depp. Dish. 


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No film set in the 70s would be complete without a sensational retrospective soundtrack - Danny Elfman (another regular Burton collaborator) writes yet another amazing score that sits alongside some truly great classics - and a performance by Alice Cooper ("the ugliest woman I have ever seen" according to Barnabas Collins, Depp's character). So I shall leave you with the Moody Blue's 1967 hit 'Knights in White Satin' - the opening track from the film.



So need to buy original Dark Shadows (the Barnabas Collins episodes) DVD, if only the full series was available in the UK! Feeling the need to revisit other supernatural families of the 60s - might be a good time to stock up on The Munsters and The Addams Family too, gosh don't get me started on the their iconic costuming as well, jeepers! Feeling my inner teenage goth creeping out!

Have a lovely weekend sweets!

Much love,
Rhi xx

Thursday 24 May 2012

Cute Finds // Postcards from Italy





If Wes Anderson put all his genius into creating short films with the aim of capturing the quirks & charms of couples, we think it would like mighty similar to what Andrew & Carissa Gallo achieve through their join venture, For You Love Me. That’s a big accolade, but we think you’ll agree it’s well deserved when you see what they do! They describe themselves as a filmmaker and a photographer that fell in love and who now capture the lives of other lovers. Their films are a visual ode to love and romance, and impossibly sweet.


We stumbled across one of their videos quite by accident after re-discovering Beirut’s music and one fortuitous google search that sent us to this video instead of Beirut. We are not complaining, turns out it features another favourite of ours, Naomi of Rockstar Diaries.


Rockstar Diaries has been one of our daily reads for quite a while, it’s a wonderfully inspirational blog that offers snapshots of Naomi’s life with her husband Josh, their adorable baby girl (and current baby bump!) and, not forgetting their pup, Kingsley, as they embark on their adventures as a family.


Set to a soundtrack of Beirut’s ‘Postcards from Italy’, Naomi & Josh’s storybook romance is told through a haze of soft focused dreaminess, the effect of which is simply divine. The story itself focuses on the couple as they meander through the City, collecting items to set up home, and ends in their own, candlelight wonderland.We absolutely love the Abbey Road style shot as they carry what has to be the best chair in the history of furniture (no lies, take a look!) across the road and oh, that night time scene! We had butterflies in our bellies watching the footage that accompanied this uplifting, folky arrangement so we had to share with you!


Can we share one more? Here's a wedding video entitled 'Zach & Bree'...





Thanks for creating such magical videos Carissa & Andrew, you make us happy!


If you wanna see more, take a look at Andrew + Carissa vimeo channel. For now, we’re off to listen to some more Beirut! Au revoir amigos!


Much love,
L&R xx

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Our Little Shop of Typography Treats!




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Over the last week, we've spent a bit of time consolidating our range of typography prints that we offer on facebook. We must admit, it was getting a teeny bit crazy with the all of the personalised prints that we'd completely forgotten to update these in quite a while, oops! We are pleased to announce that our updated range has now been filtered through to our facebook pages and will be updated on Etsy very soon, too!

As well as the 'I Like You' personalised print, we now have customisable Wedding, Annivesary & Christening Prints as well as the newly added 'Dislike' print - for the more cynical friend or relative! We're so happy to say that our Ex-Boyfriend Series and Beatles prints have been really popular and they'll also be staying!

In addition to that, we've also been super busy creating new prints and we'll be featuring one print each day, on facebook over the next week or so. Make sure you're following us to catch the first glimpse!

To take a look at the range, please take a look at, PRINTS TO BUY.

A5 prints are now offered at £10 (framed options available at £15) and A4 prints are now only £15 (framed options at £25). 

As always, we love working with you to create a print that is personal to you, so please get in touch to discuss colour options or email us at info[at]shedressedinblack.co.uk for personalisation enquires. 

Big thanks to everyone who has already purchased a print, we've really enjoyed working on all of them!

Much love, 
L&R xx

Monday 21 May 2012

After Dinner Dance Party // Baku Countdown

There are a few annual occurrences that we look forward too each year... Christmas, Birthdays, Easter, Halloween... and Eurovision. In an unfortunate turn of events we will be missing the live show on Saturday (hold back those tears - not all bad, we're going to see The Moons again!) . So today, in honour of this yearly spectacular we're bringing you some of our historical and hilarious favourites as the rest of Europe counts down to Baku 2012 (and we make sure we set the TV to record!)





The Eurovision Song Contest began in 1956 - Switzerland were the first ever winner!


We've featured this winning song from dreamy little songstress France Gall before. Taking the crown for Luxembourg in 1965 with a little help from Serge Gainsbourg


1968 - La La La from Spain. The first year broadcast in colour, beautiful dress from the Spanish Winner...


Another from 1968, just because he's rather dishy...!



A 1980s win for the UK courtesy of Bucks Fizz - the outfits, the choreography, the revolutionary whipping off of the skirts, sensationally cheesy... Pioneering yet classic.


When trying to think of favourites of more recent years, this is the first song that springs to mind... yes really. Long gone are the live orchestras accompanying singers, the glamour and sophistication of the events (check out some of the crowd shots in the earlier videos - like a night at the theatre!) - Out comes Verka Serduchka with the CATCHIEST SONG EVER (Rhi might even have it on her iPod... Ooh it's all coming out now!). We don't know any of the words, not single one, but we sure do try singing along "zeeben zeeben I loo loo?" ... that'll do.Wondering if we can pull off going out dressed in tin foil with a Christmas tree topper on our heads... 



We believe we may have once mentioned that one day we would quite like to design outfits for John & Edward... Honestly, we love them a little bit, we really do (and we'd encourage you to come to the dark side, it is so much fun laughing at how cross they make people simply by existing - it's enlightening, really!). This is what Eurovision is all about these days, if we can't have sophistication and all elegance of the 1950s and 60s, then we want John and Edward... All together now "She's got her lipstick on, here I come da da dum" 

Good luck to UK's Engelbert Humperdink (seriously rest of Europe, his name alone is worth a vote, is it not?) and Jedward for their second year - please no shameful repeats of 2003s scores... (Nil point!)

Much love,
R&L xx

Sunday 20 May 2012

Rhi's Wishlist // Orange Crush

Hey lovelies,

As last week Lola shared her Lemon and Mint wishlist I thought I'd spill my latest colour crush... I never realised quite how much I love the colour orange, perhaps it is the fact that it is so predominant in 60s and 70s design and it feel so wonderfully retro, or maybe because it is making me feel super summery (hurry up and change seasons already England!). 

I need to write wishlists more often - in a retail therapy blind panic yesterday I picked up several things that, when out of the Saturday Speed Shop daze, I realised that I didn't actually like all that much, silly... Off to return said crummy purchases to put funds towards either of those pairs of shoes... (or both.... and the bag... oh crumbs!)

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1. Lolita Poster
2. Vintage scarf
3. Floral Luggage
4. Orange Lipstick
5. Sparkle Shoes
6. Orla Kiely Numbers
7. Cold Comfort Farm
8. 70s Bag
9. Floral Platforms

Much love,
Rhi xx

ps. The Cold Comfort Farm feature serves as a 'subliminal' message to Lola that we should totally go back to town and pick up the vintage penguin classics set that we spotted yesterday for Twee Towers... Oui?

Friday 18 May 2012

Literature Love // Nine Stories...

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I wrote last year about my rediscovery of Salinger's works - despited being disenchanted with his 'must read' Catcher in The Rye I gave him another chance with 'Rise High The Roof Beam Carpenters' which I fell totally in love with and eager to read more to I picked up a copy of Nine Stories.


The collection of short stories, originally published in magazines throughout the late 40s and 50s - showcase Salinger's unfaltering ability to captivate with his beautiful portrayals of seemingly normal, every day human interactions. What appears to be lighthearted social commentary in some stories, masks thought provoking and poignant moments which catch you completely of guard (you are distracted from Seymour's depression by his heartwarming playfulness with a young girl in 'A Perfect Day for Bananafish' for example) and startling revelations for his fascinating characters, his detailed observations of life's little moments and descriptions of individuals mannerisms bring his stories to life. In 'A Perfect Day for Bananafish', the first story in the collection (and probably my favourite) - I was reminded of the gentle beauty of Seymour Glass, such a wonderful character and one who I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to understand...


Another favourite from the collection is 'The Laughing Man' - you feel the anticipation for the the next installment of the 'The Laughing Man' story along with all the kids on the bus, my breath would catch each time 'The Chief' would turn around from his drivers seat and the story continued, an almost comic style adventure, with a Robin Hood-esque protagonist, disfigured as a baby by Chinese bandits who wears a mask of poppy petals to veil his face - it is simply amazing! 


I could talk all day about each and every delightful tale, but shall let you discover those for yourself. Definitely another highly recommended book from us!


Much love,
Rhi xx

Wednesday 16 May 2012

The Insta' Diaries (May)


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To finish off the bank holiday weekend, Lauren travelled down to watch James play keys for the Lightning Seeds at Swindon Town. (Y'know footballers seriously have communal baths in their changing rooms!?) Was great to see him play, had been a while since the last LS shows, and now we can't wait for the next run of Moons' gigs!

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Snap taken by James whilst up rehearsing in Liverpool!

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Helped James have a reorganise of his home studio. Main duties: cables, polishing and pretending I'm June Carter with his autoharp! Oh, what a good thing we had...

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Colours, yum. Think we're veering towards a yellow & purple theme for the Twee Towers garden. Hopefully it will go better than last year's attempts!

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L & J embarking on a mammoth country walk. Just over 6.5 miles - through serveral villages, up hills, round lakes & through streams! Was such a lovely day and great to get some sunshine & fresh air. L's legs have just about stopped hurting... just in time for yoga this evening!

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The cutest cottages & a hidden lake! 

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Wading in wellies through the stream - so close to tripping over a rock backwards taking this picture!

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Treasures & Trinkets!

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Wrapping up treats for the one year giveaway winner

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Milkshake!




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More walks for Rhi. A special spot.

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Basking in the sunshine and enjoying breakfast picnics in the garden!

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Family fun times. Playing a 1987 edition of Trivial Pursuit. As those of us playing were born between 1988 and 1992 - our trivia based knowledge on 80s politics let us down a little... so chaos later descended and a whipped cream fight broke out. We're that wild.

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Little M - Styling it up. May have to ban this tshirt - he has new ideas about having 'Crazy, crazy, craaaazy nights' ... Bad influence!

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Spent an afternoon reorganising the playroom, a home for everything once more, and a rejig of layout means that Little M now has a lot more room for fun!

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Treats and medicines!! When nursing the cold from hell all Rhi wants is quiet time with a book and beechams or a good fruit fix (with a side order of white chocolate for dipping! yum!)

Hope you all have a lovely day!

Much love,
L&R xx

Monday 14 May 2012

English Summer!






Bonus post today! I know, we're biased but we absolutely love The Moons new video for upcoming single, English Summer, filmed at Bekonscot Model Village. Enjoy!

For more lunar news, videos and gig info, take a look at their facebook page.

Much love, 
L&R xx

After Dinner Dance Party // St. Vincent



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Did anyone catch St. Vincent on Jools Holland last week? James had mentioned her name after catching the shorter show earlier in the week, so I thought I'd give it a listen. Couple of tracks later and I'd bought her album, 'Strange Mercy' Looking forward to giving it a whirl at the Twee Towers, After Dinner Dance Party playlist this eve to see what Rhi thinks! 

For those unfamilar with St Vincent, imagine the seductive airiness of Regina Spektor, transformed into ferocious, gargagy goodness, supplemented by intelligent arrangements and literate lyrics. Sooo good!  As much as we like sweet folky guitars, isn't it refreshing to hear that sweetness combined with a bit more fervor?

Interesting fact, Annie Clark, the beaut behind St. Vincent, is a former member of The Polyphonic Spree. She's since exchanged the robes and picked up some pretty sweet 60s style attire, too! Big love.

Here's St. Vincent performing, 'Cheerleader' on Jools Holland... 




Much love,
Lauren xx

Saturday 12 May 2012

Lauren's Wishlist: Mint & Lemon

I know it's getting old but I still can't quite drag away from all things lemon and mint. So, instead of purchasing anything else, I've decided my bank account will love me a whole lot more, if I put together a mini dream wishlist of a few of my favourite items!

The funny thing is, usually when is comes to creating wishlists, I'm terrible. Ask me what I would like for my birthday or as a Christmas gift a couple of weeks before and I cannot think of a thing. Anything that does pop into my head, I talk myself out of just as quickly. I'm also terrible at receiving gifts, I'm told I say thank you way too much at the best of times. 

That said, if just so happens that someone fancies sending any of these marvels my way, I'm not going to complain too much...


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4. Nailpolish, Chanel
5. Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh
7. Books V. Cigarettes, George Orwell
8. A shiny new, Nissan Figaro

Pretty, please! 

Much love, 
Lauren xx

Friday 11 May 2012

Scotland - Family Fun!

Hey loves,

Little M & I had a really lovely relaxing time away in Ayr, Scotland. Little M had a most exciting time on his first ever plane journey ("WOW! I'm in the SKY!") - and despite both catching colds, we spent the week at parks, having picnics, going for ice cream and chilling at my Aunt and Uncles very cool flat and perusing their amazing collection of antiques in their pub!

It was a lovely trip down memory lane too - Ayr was a regular holiday haunt of my childhood - as my Dad was from Glasgow and all his family stayed up there, we always visited regularly, was reminiscing about our trips to Port Patrick (where I'd stand out on the pier and call out "Ariel! Are you there?" - huge Little Mermaid fan!) - and made me realise how much I have missed those long car journeys up with my dad (and listening to the 'Joseph' soundtrack. ha!) and I so miss spending so much quality time with my Aunt & Uncle - they visit through the year but it always feel so brief, and I hadn't been to Scotland myself for 6 years! We got to see a bit of family heritage passing my Great Grandpa's cottage, and hearing lots of stories of my Dad's childhood in Glasgow always makes me smile! Not to mention getting to catch up with one of my cousin's - I think the last time we saw each other we were about 11!

Here are a few pics from our adventures :) - hope you don't mind me getting holiday day snap happy!



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Travelling up



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Play park fun



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Totally acceptable to have a shot on the swings at 23 years old...



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Told you we spent a lot of time at parks...



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The stunning Rozelle house & Galleries - another happy childhood place. So intrigued by my Scottish heritage when I was younger, I developed quite an obsession with the works of Robert Burns and in particular the poem Tam O'Shanter - Rozelle Gallery has curated some stunning depictions of the famous ghostly poem!




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'Sunny Scotland' indeed - the weather was glorious - I hear it was quite the opposite back in England while I was away!



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Myles taking in some culture in the 'McLaurin Gallery' within Rozelle



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The delightful tea room - with the BEST red velvet cake.



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Did some tree climbing!

nb. The bear that keeps appearing throughout the pictures was sent on holiday with us by Little M's nursery - we were capturing his adventures along the way too!



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Homemade Scottish Tablet Ice Cream! Oh my! Picnic bags with Shakespeare quotes!



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Looking out to sea! So nice being near the coast! 



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Little M was treated to snazzy new shoes!



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Just a small part of just one of my Aunt & Uncles book cases! SO MANY BOOKS! Heaven! Had lots of fun looking through these 60s penguin paper backs! They also have a vast collection of leather bound classics - my Aunt has agreed to open a 'library' for us to borrow some of her fab books! Yay!



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Antiques in the pub! There wasn't enough light to take pictures of the camera collection - more than 30 vintage cameras - amazing!



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My Great Grandmother's silver tea set!



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Books! The Sagan novels the first loan from my Aunt's Library - love the covers! Next on the list are these Roald Dahl books for 'grown ups' - that we hear are rather risque! 



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Another lovely thing was looking through old family photographs - I don't remember ever seeing this picture of my Mama and Dad. Aw.

That's my lot - can't wait for another trip and catching up with more family and friends!

Much love,
Rhi xx
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