Saturday in Port Sunlight

Today we visited the village of Port Sunlight, situated on the Wirral, Cheshire. The village first dates back to 1888 and was built by William Hesketh Lever for the employers of Lever Brothers. His factory made the infamous brand of soap, Sunlight, which he named the village after.

Port Sunlight is a collection of around 900 Grade II listed houses and buildings and it was home to all of Lever's factory workers. Rather than give his workers a share of the comapny's profits, Lever invested the money in the village, a combination of houses each designed by a different architect. The site also had a hospital, schools, concert hall, church and the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Today I actually spotted a Natwest bank complete with 'a hole in the wall', a sure sign times have moved on a bit.

We spent a good couple of hours wandering around the streets and could smell soap wafting from the nearby factory. Here's a few of my photos.






The village was full of springtime flowers...




The aptly named Bath Street!


I found out this building is called the Lyceum and has had many uses including educational purposes, social and as a church.




www.portsunlightvillage.com

Dress Envy

I thought Lea Michele looked amazing in this gorgeous Oscar de la Renta floor length gown. She wore it recently at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and it's been mentioned in pretty much every magazine I've read this week. I'd love to wear it, major dress envy!

Trip to Lady Hayes

Last weekend, we visited Lady Hayes Crafts and Antiques Centre, just up the road from the village of Frodsham in Cheshire. Originally a farm dating back several hundred years, it's now made up of several outbuildings all of which are home to thousands of crafts, antiques, collectibles and paraphernalia - my idea of heaven!

You can easily spend a morning or afternoon there as it's basically rooms full of things to root through. The place was stacked high with china in every colour and pattern imaginable and it's perfect if you're after something a little different for your home. I'll keep in in mind if I ever need props for a work project.

My favourite piece had to be this retro kitchenette with the doors painted hot pink. I think it'd make a quirky shop fixture for the right setting. I also like this set of drawers but sadly I have no space for either item.


As a keen horse rider, this leather saddle also caught my eye, resting on a wooden towel rail.


It's such a great place, well worth a visit if you're nearby. I'll be going again soon with my mum and auntie.

www.ladyhayes.co.uk

Stunning Wedding Cakes

So, now I'm engaged, it's the perfect excuse to flick through countless wedding magazines. At first I was pretty overwhelmed with choices to make with regards to flowers, themes, favours and, of course, the dress. In one of my many magazines, I came across these stunning cakes from choccywoccydoodah.com


I cannot get over how fabulous they are and the work that's clearly gone into them. They're like something you'd find at the Mad Hatter's tea party. Their website is pretty good too, worth a look. I like the lifestyle photography.



www.choccywoccydoodah.com

Good to be Back!

Happy New Year! Well, better late than never I suppose.

Last year ended on a bit of a whirlwind for me... I got engaged to the lovely Mr Thomas in October whilst on holiday. Then, all of a sudden, it was Christmas! Needless to say my lovely blog got neglected, so one of my new year resolutions was to make regular contributions. Hmmm, January blogging went out of the window then. My excuse was trying to get back into the routine again after enjoying a lovely Christmas (and my birthday) with friends and family.

So, lets get stuck in...

Afternoon in Buxton

Wow, I can't believe it's September already, where has the year gone? It's been a busy few weeks; our friends Craig and Tracy are getting married next week so we've been off to the hen and stag parties.

The bank holiday weekend was lovely. Ste and I went to Buxton for the day, one of our favourite places to visit. Unfortunately the weather was pretty wet but after a pub lunch it brightened up and we were able to have a walk around. There's a few vintage and antique shops in the centre so we checked them out. We did see a few things we liked but we haven't got the room in our house.

Further up the street I took a photo of this amazing book shop that looks like something out of a Harry Potter film...

China Plate Wallpaper

I came across this wallpaper in a magazine recently and I really want it! The pattern is made up of photos of different china plates and looks really effective. Trouble is I don't really have anywhere for it to go in my house and it's pretty pricey at £120 a roll. Still it'd work out cheaper than collecting plates and less risk of them getting damaged by my cat!