Annie's Friday Smile

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Friday Smile

I didn't think I'd manage it today but I'm having a stop for a cuppa and to post my Friday Smile for Annie's Weekly Cheer for the weekend.

A friend of mine upholstered vintage furniture but, when she lost the unit where she worked, she offloaded a shed full for me to mind. Years have gone by and I haven't seen her, I don't know where she now lives and her phone number is inactive, so I decided it's all got to go! The shed is past saving and we need a new one.

I faced the old garden shed, it's cobwebs and rotten timbers and started throwing out all her decrepid pieces of furniture, now just piles of old wood. DH relayed a couple of carloads to the local tip and there's a lot more trips ahead.

Unexpectedly, there amongst it all, a face was staring at me.....

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A big fat healthy toad, who must have been locked in there for years.

He must have survived on spiders and the rain drips through the leaky roof.

He wasn't the least bit phased by my clear out and sat watching for ages.

As I am only half way through the job I decided to leave him in his free lodgings a while longer and then I will do my best to catch him and find him a brand new superior abode.

He is quite orangey on colour and I intend to investigate his variety... anyone know? Has anyone seen a friendly toad like this before?

Tatton Hall

A few days ago we took a trip out to visit Tatton Hall and Park in Knutsford Cheshire. It didn't open until 1pm so first we had a stroll around Knutsford, it's charity shops where I found a cute little Denby Tea Pot for £3 (I always use a teapot for making tea) and had a super lunch in a Thai restaurant.

I love the quirky buildings there and La Belle Epoque, (a gem of Art Nouveau), now a hotel and restaurant, is one of my favourites. The front was filled with pots of geraniums in every nook and cranny available. I has inscriptions of the history of all the Kings and Queens of England on it's pillars and walls.

The Belle Epoque Building

A snippet of it's history from the web.....

"Created and built in 1907 by glove merchant Richard Harding Watt, the Belle Epoque features two pillars taken from the original St. Peter’s Church in Manchester, opulent marble pillars, art nouveau fire places – Elizabeth Gaskell Memorial Tower and Mediterranean roof garden are to name a few are the plethora of original features of the building. This building is the living embodiment of the Belle Epoque Era.

It is now a very popular wedding venue.

Kate has just pointed out the smiling face on this door below...I've been there so often and I've never noticed before! Thank you Kate!

On to Tatton Hall where we visited their Orchid house for the first time....superb!

In the hall there was a special Beatrix Potter event and, whilst they had a large section especially for children, all the rooms of the hall had beautiful tableaus of the various characters and I especially loved this one.

There was an exhibition of many of original paintings for her books, which were well guarded and no photos were allowed. I was allowed, however, to take pics of the original manuscripts but as they were in high glass cases it was a bit of good luck and guesswork to do so.

 I did manage these little gems as a souvenir.

 A little extra treat that I love for this weekend is that M&S have their £10, 3 course meal and a bottle of wine on this weekend, so no cooking on Saturday. A great bonus for me whilst it's so hot here. 
Yippee! I'm smiling and I hope you are too,

Have a great weekend and pop over to Annie's blog for even more smiles and don't miss the new quilts on the LillyBo blog