You know you should always have your camera with you when...

you have a day like today. We intended to go out and get the boring stuff out the way - haircuts, food shopping, paint brush purchasing and then come back and paint, but then we got side-tracked.....

We started off by visiting the tip shop to drop off the hamster cage, sadly vacated about a month ago. I had never been up to the shop before, it is a treasure trove! All that stuff that is no longer loved looking for new owners. There was so much stuff there, old furniture, tvs, videos and DVDs, bric a brac, and all the money goes to the local Hospice. And what did I find when I was there? A jug to match the teapot I inherited from my Gran, I was so excited. They also had tea cups, but no saucers, and larger jugs, but this little milk jug was enough. It made me feel very happy, and is now in the dining room waiting for a home (when the painting is finished).

We then went to get the "girls" some grit and drove through the Worcestershire countryside to http://www.domesticfowltrust.co.uk/, to see what they had. As we drove over the brow of the hill we couldn't see the view. The sky was black, and the hills had a huge rain storm on them, but the girls needed their grit so we continued.

From there we went to Chipping Campden which is a beautiful town in the Cotswolds http://www.chippingcampden.co.uk/, it is worth a click on the link to see the beauty of the place - by this time even DH was asking why I didn't have the camera but given the weather I am sure any photos taken today wouldn't have done the honey coloured stone justice. We went to our favourite tea room http://www.bantamtea-rooms.co.uk/  and managed to get a seat next to the fire. It was crackling away as we ate our cheese and ham toasties, drank hot chocolate and talked about how lucky we realise we are to live somewhere so lovely. We then got into a conversation about happiness and the importance of opening your eyes and enjoying what is around you - very deep, must have been the bad weather!?

When it finally stopped raining, we wandered round the village, popped into a small antiques fair where a stall holder was singing and whistling along to Nessum Dorma (quite odd!). Then we finally decided we had better get down to the job of food shopping for the week, and went to the supermarket, ran round it very quickly (I dislike supermarkets!!) and decided to go home.

BUT as we went to the car I spotted a sign advertising a small Christmas Fair being held in a local church, so we decided to pop over. The lady organising it had, until July 09, owned a fab shop in the local town so we thought we would go over and show our support, plus she has a great eye for products so it was great chance to pick up some Christmas Gifts.

We had a little trouble finding the church, but when we found it WOW!! It was a Catholic church off a main street in a very quaint village. Her shop was situated in the undercroft (the building dates from the mid 16th Century), and she showed us the rooms linked through. The building hasn't been used for years and is in desperate need of doing up. The farmhouse attached was lived in until recently by an old lady who had done no work on it at all - it fell to rack and ruin around her. It is a fantastic building, Grade 2 listed. We met Father Brown, and he was more than happy to show us his church. In the middle of this ruin was this most amazing church. I am so upset I didn't have my camera. He explained how the church was involved during the Reformation. All so interesting and such a surprise.

Incredible! This wonderful place hidden away and happened upon because we saw a poster outside a supermarket.

We had a fantastic day. The reason I have detailed it all is so I can come back to this in years to come and capture the feel of it.