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Thursday 1 July 2010

The Intrepid Adventures of B and Blighty Part 1


Hello ladies! Sorry for posting hiatus (sounds like an offence under the Postal Services Act??) but very taken up with gallivanting with lovely B, Mr B's cousin who came to stay. B has now gone, so I am in a post-B slump, but am cheering myself up by telling you all about our antics.

One day B and I decided to check out the "old town" near where I live. The town is split in two, one olde worlde, the other full of 60s buildings, and functional stuff like chemists and newsagents. I rarely go to the old bit as I am usually busy sourcing useful boy stuff like nit lotion, plasters, Beano comics and football cards; also the old bit has some very upmarket boutiques and I don't trust myself not to blow the housekeeping on a pair of designer flipflops! But as lovely B was there to keep an eye on me, we decided it was safe.

Above, a tremendously bad photo of the old town High Street, note how I have cleverly captured silver Landrover disappearing on the right, blue removal van in the distance, and lots of the lovely black door, while also ensuring the old church is partially obscured. Look and learn kids, this is a master at work!

Here is a pic of olde worlde inn hotel, we snooped around the courtyard.
They seem to have the same gardener as I do (none). Oh dear.

It was hot - as proven by tables and umbrellas, v unusual sight in this hemisphere.

Oh look, "the acclaimed film"! I am not sure whether this is a good sign or not, smacks a bit of desperation?? At least it makes a change from claiming Charles II slept here when fleeing from the Roundheads.

Lovely B and I then proceeded to check out the shops. We went to one called "littlebondstreet" (cheap deal at printers if use only lower case???) (I had spotted it during a walk on bitterly cold Boxing Day last year, when Mr Blighty had to pull my frozen tongue off the window and force me back into the car, such was the lusciousness of the items on display and the zeal of my window shopping).

This clutch bag has a trout pout, too much filler?

I know Lulu Guinness is the business, but the prices frightened me to death!
At this point the most shameful thing happened. I hardly dare speak of it. My phone ran out of juice. What an amateur blogger novice mistake! I was undone! There were more lovely designer things I so wanted to photo, including See by Chloe shoes which were £400 IN THE SALE!! While we were there, one lady came to collect one pair that had been ordered, then just "popped" another pair into her shopping basket, as you do! Lovely B had to stuff my tongue back into my mouth, wipe the dribble off my chin and bundle me out of the shop!

Below, the reason I ran out of battery. Boy 2 has loaded up all sorts of games on my phone and then sneaks my phone and plays them; I can always tell it's happening as a weird quiet descends on the house, very unnerving. He also enjoys taking photos of the screen. Why? And I keep having panic attacks thinking the "you currently have a negative cashflow" is a message from my bank.

Later, inspired by the Four Weddings plaque on the hotel suite door, we chose a Hugh Grant DVD to watch. I love Hugh Grant, he never disappoints, he is basically always the same (except for About a Boy, when he had a cropped haircut). When we lived in London, everyone I knew was always seeing him. I never did, it was totally unfair. The best story was from a friend whose husband spotted Hugh sitting outside a cafe. "Walk by and look", he says, "but be cool." "Sure, of course I'll be cool", huffs my friend. She walks up to Hugh's table, stops dead in front of him and squeals at the top of her voice, "HUUUUUGH GRAAAAAAAANT!" He started working a lot more in the US after that.

19 comments:

  1. Seems like you have had a wonderful time with B - hope you're not too sad now that she has gone.. loved seeing your haunts -and the Lulu G. clutch bags. Mid Southern England is my guess! x

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  2. We never see upscale designer clobber in my corner of the colonies. Tres chic. Also enjoy Hugh.

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  3. In America we think Hugh Grant IS King Henry the 9th.

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  4. Old Amersham still looks very charming. Many years ago we used to go out there regularly to a sweet olde worlde pub for Sunday lunch in its lovely lushly planted garden. I particularly remember the puddings - based on Delia's homemade icecreams which were the height of fashion at the time. I don't think there were any posh handbag shops in those days though! And of course we didn't know then that a former pupil of my son's future school in Hammersmith would shortly become the famous floppy haired Hugh G (and therefore not quite as posh as he seems!)

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  5. Lulu Guinness owns these really nice place mats that are drawings of the Mitfords that she has had laminated...I'd like some. Her bags are nice but prohibitively 'spensive, esp as I have to multiply your prices by 2 as the Aussie dollar is so weak and unwell. Enjoy the heat! x

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  6. hello there
    hope you don't mind but i tagged you in a meme - it's at mrs trefusis
    loving the blog - keep up the good work xx

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  7. The High Street and surroundings look very quaint...lovely in fact...
    Hugh Grant is such fun...
    he has such a great command of the English language...
    I loved watching him on Inside The Actor's Studio...
    he's so self deprecating...and charming.

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  8. HOOOORRRRRRAAAAAAYYYYYY, YOU'RE BACK, I'M HAPPY.

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  9. A great post Blighty, thanks for sharing your adventures part 1 with B.
    Positively adore your part of the world with all the High Streets. Is it common to have multiple high streets in a city??
    Hugh is comforting as he does seem to play the same role in every movie. About a Boy is my favourite.
    xx

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  10. HI Blighty, thank goodness you are back. Every blog you've posted has had amazing relevance to a 50 plus non-mother in North Qld. HOOOOORRRRRRRAAAAAAAYYYYYYY for your return. Despite Paddy (my journalist, blogging sister) having to drag me onto the blogoshpere, I quickly became a Blighty addict, and it's been tough going without for nearly a WEEK. Cheers, Louise

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  11. Gorgeous pics of a sunny England. Makes me miss it... xx

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  12. Dear ladies, thank you all for your comments, so nice to be back!
    Elegance - Did your son go to St Pauls? is Hugh really not so posh? how devastating! I did notice in the Morgans film that his accent had got posher, perhaps for the American market? The fact that Hugh has a posh voice is possibly a giveaway of middle class origins, posh chaps these days talk like gangsta rappers or ex cons, I cite Eton school boys and Guy Richie as examples of this.
    FF - you can tell Lulu I have an original Mitford, perfectly preserved (a friend of mine is a taxidermist) as a hatstand in my hallway, so there!
    Mrs T - thank you for the meme, what is a meme? Tagging- is that to make sure I observe my curfew, am thrilled as thought only Young offenders got tagged?
    Hostess - I think Hugh Grant would be a lot of fun, if I were Bridget Jones I would have stuck with him, not boring Colin Firth!
    Louise - I have not had a welcome like that in years, thank you! If I left home for 3 months and trekked to the Amazon, on my return my boys' first words, without removing eyes from telly, would be "Can we have some crisps?"

    Anne-Marie - About a Boy is Hugh's best film, he actually gets to act and does really well; I also love Words and Music as he gets to strut his funky stuff!!
    Sophie P - to make you miss it less, remember that most of the time it is either raining, about to rain or has just stopped raining; except when we have the wrong kind/wrong amount of snow which brings the entire country to a standstill and we all have a lovely time complaining about lack of grit to go on roads etc.

    Bye ladiesxx

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  13. I found you via Mrs Trefusis- what fun this is!

    I adore Hugh Grant too and I think we'd be great friends- he seems like he doesn't give a hoot what people think and is terribly witty, sarcastic and erudite- all of which I love in a man and a drinking companion.

    I don't mind that he is in some terrible films because he is always good in them and very funny. Did you hear about the Morgans isn't great is it- but the bit with the bear is very funny- and you know, I like watching Hugh so I was entertained. I actually think he's really really good in About a Boy- I never fail to laugh at the dead duck, the closed eyes or the bits abotu units- and it's not the writing it's the delivery.

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  14. And ooh the one where he's Andrew Ridgeley- I actually cried at the videos- he clearly loved hamming it up to an astonishing degree

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  15. Hello Rose, welcome to the mad bad world of Blighty, where we party like no tomorrow till 9pm when we have a nice hot drink and go up to bed. I think Hugh is v under-rated, he is superb at what he does and makes it look easy, the Andrew Ridgely type one is Words and Music, must watch it again! Bx

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  16. Hugh G (and EM son) are former pupils of Latymer Uppper, Hammersmith. As were Alec Rickman (swoon) and the comedian Mel Smith. We first noticed HG in The Remains of the Day. He had a minor role but was devastatingly handsome with slicked back hair as the son of Lord ? the Nazi leaning owner of the stately home. I am famous for my tenuous links to the truly Famous. Such as passing HG's former girlfriend Liz Hurley in the BA first class departure lounge (we were seeing people off!) a couple of years ago. She smiled so sweetly (she is actually stunning in real life) at said son who was proudly carrying his tiny niece in a baby sling. He managed not to faint.

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  17. Dear Elegance, I have never seen Hugh Grant but I used to see Miss Hurley at Boy 1's school in London, when she was collecting her son; she was v beautiful and glam, usually in jeans, sunglasses and a little fur jacket; I just used to gawp at her like a half-wit, I am cool like that! I am like you, but my case of celeb sightings is even more severe - I keep insisting that there is someone famous over there and Mr B has to point out that in fact it's the plumber/the man who came to fix the blinds/ our dentist..

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  18. you crack me up!
    LOVE Hugh Grant

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  19. uh, normally it is Mr Paula who turns away from the film and says "this is really bad". watching the morgans it was me. uh, this film was really bad. :-/

    his (HG's) accent is nice to listen to.

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