I’ve been to the Wheatsheaf Inn, an old pub in Wirral for many years, but I never blogged about it, not even a small mention. The pub was recommended to me by the guy who sold us the car and I know how strange that sounds. Locally is known as the Thatch due to its thatched roof. My husband and I were both very excited about the pub and when we mentioned it to our friends, they told us Wheatsheaf Inn is one of their favourite pubs too. In celebration of this, we went there for drinks, obviously.
The pub celebrated its 400th birthday in 2011. In the next building is the Cowshed restaurant. The restaurant gets its name from a long history of dairy farming and because it’s a converted old cattle barn, 250 years old.
This time we went during the day for coffee and a light lunch and I was very pleased with everything. We did have to wait a bit for our lunch, but I wasn’t too bothered about it. We had the time and I like the place so much that I was happy to wait.
It’s been a while since I visited a ruin, so Witley Court and Gardens was on my list of things to see. I love ruins, I find them romantic and a bit sad, but in a lovely way. Witley Court is now managed by English Heritage.
In the 1890s Witley Court was visited by the fashionable society. One of the frequent visitors was the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.
Witley Court started as a medieval manor house and it was transformed into a substantial Jacobean mansion by 1655 when it was bought by Thomas Foley. The family started their business by manufacturing nails. Gradually they abandoned the industrial base and went on concentrating on being landed aristocrats and politicians. The 1st Baron Foley (1673–1733) enlarged the house by adding wings on either sides.
Last Sunday I’ve been on Women’s Running Race Series, the 5k run. I mentioned I’m going to race before, when I talked about How I prepare for 5k in collaboration with Roots Collective, the oficial sponsor of race series. In Liverpool, Women’s Running Race Series was held in Sefton Park. There are more races if you want to have a go.
I made a routine and I was able to stick to it in the first three weeks, but after 7th July I had some health issues, a cold paired with a headache, and I wasn’t able to run as planned. I did some pushups, but it’s not exactly helpful for running.
I wanted to have a good time as the first point in my 40 before 40 list was to run a 5k in under 40 minutes. I was motivated to do that, but I wasn’t sure I will be able to do it.
I usually workout or run in the mornings, after walking the dog, at around 8am, before breakfast. On Sunday, at the race, I was running later, as the race started a bit after 10am. So, I had a light breakfast, only a sandwich and some raw peppers, less than I usually have. I had two espressos 30-40 minutes before the race and a banana 15 minutes before. Now I think I should have had the coffee and the banana closer to the race. For the race I made my own energy drink with golden syrup and sea salt (it has more minerals than regular salt). I though it was a good idea, until I had a drink during running and it was yucky. I still drank it as it was a better option comparing to water, but I’m not going to make this energy drink again.
I managed to get to my objective. According to my app, I did 5k in 37 minutes. I crossed the finish line in 39 minutes (and 5.2 km according to my app) and either way I was under the 40 minutes. I think the difference is that I start my app before actually passing the start line, as I was further down the field. I will consider the 37 minutes as the result as I paced myself with the app. I was looking at the stats when I was running, I knew the time I wanted to achieve and I made sure I did it.
I’m a long way off the winners, I imagine they had under 30 minutes, but for me this was the best result I had and I’m proud of myself.
The official results are out and my Chip time is 39:01. I finished 39 from 73.
Yesterday I blogged about British Style Collective – Catwalk and Alcatel Arena Show and today I’m blogging about Shopping and Designers. More details on the BSC website*.
I mentioned yesterday about Gary McQueen (top-left) and his scarf debut collection: Life – Death – Rebirth. The collection is a tribute to Alexander McQueen, his uncle. For the Life scarf (top-right), the modernist fantasy birds design he said he used real pigeons, trained to take parts in photoshoots. That is impressive.
The second one (bottom-left) is Death – carved ivory. Alexander cared about animals and he incorporated that in his collections, like NATURAL Dis-Tinction, Un-Natural Selection in 2009. He presented the impact of humanity on the environment by using antique taxidermy in an artspace in a building used as a morgue in Paris. As I said, Death was my favourite scarf. As it’s silk and quite expensive (£250), I will not buy it. I don’t wear silk for ethical reasons.
The last scarf of the collection (bottom-right) is Rebirth, a celebration of femininity.
I’ve embedded the youtube video again, as it’s just as relevant today as it was yesterday.
I wasn’t sure if I should make two posts or one about British Style Collective, a fashion event that took place in Liverpool last week. It’s The Clothes Show Live, renamed and moved to Liverpool from Birmingham. As I have over 30 pictures and a short film, the choice was made for me by the amount of things I want to share. Tomorrow a new post will follow with details about Shopping and Designers. Have a look at British Style Collective’s website for more information until then.
I was so excited about it, that I planned what I want to see every day. I didn’t make it to two of the things planned as they started at 10 and in the mornings we are busy and we got there a little late.
The Catwalks were at St. George’s Hall. I think they couldn’t have picked a better location for them. St. George is a beautiful historic building with stunning decorations and a perfect place for high end fashion shows.
Recognize her from Next Top Model? She is Hilary Alexander, a judge from Britain’s Next Top Model. I watched a few season of that show and I’m a big fan of hers. I also saw versions from US and Australia and I have to admit I prefer the British one.
I like Eco-friendly products, it’s better for the environment and for us too, as it means we are living in a greener world. I was excited to receive this bundle from Greener Cleaner Products for review and to host a giveaway, so one of my readers would have the chance of winning a bundle.
For me, cutting down waste is important, regardless if it’s food waste or anything else. I am washing and removing the labels of glass and plastic jars, so I can reuse them again and again, prolonging their lives with a couple of years, even more when it comes to plastic. So, I’m obviously delighted to see that more things can be done with plastic stuff after they’re no longer needed.
These products are 100% made with wood pulp and recycled plastic using Eco-Flex, a patented technology. I think it’s wonderful, a good way to use plastic which leads to a reduction in waste and in what goes into the landfill. By using ready made plastic, there isn’t the need to use fresh raw materials. Also, according to their website, less energy and water are needed, hence there is a reduction in pollution from incineration. The products are made with sustainable wood and recycled Polypropylene.
We were planning to go to another pub, close by, but we stopped for lunch at The Queen’s Head Frodsham. It was a lovely day, so we were lucky to have the whole room for us as almost everybody was in the garden. I was delighted to be able to take as many pictures as I wanted without being worried that I will bother others.
The Queen’s Head was built in the 17th century and it’s a Grade II listed pub. It started as a coaching inn in Frodsham and it would have house 23 horses. The stables can be seen at the rear of the pub, but we didn’t go outside, so I missed that. It’s a reason to have another lunch at them.
The pub was called The King’s Head, changing the name to The Queen’s Head when Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837.
