It’s time for fashion, tea, and a crown (we are the Burnout Queens after all).

Our day trip to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum was first class all the way…from first-class train tickets, to a classy tea in the member’s room of the V&A (ah the perks of membership: private, good food, and immaculate table service). 

Who doesn’t love fashion of some kind?  Well, Dr T & Dr B took a whimsical trip down memory lane when we visited the Mary Quant exhibition. You weren’t a woman of the 60’s without owning something that showed that iconic little black and white logo.

Oh look, her makeup, oh look her fab jumper dresses, oh look the leggings and stockings!!!

Oh goodness we used to look and dress like this!  It’s a little disconcerting when you recognise your old wardrobe on display for a vintage exhibition!

We had hoped to take in the Dior Exhibit but the lineup was so long and the wait so hot that we decided to visit the newly refurbished Jewellery Gallery instead.  In this instance Plan B did not disappoint because there is bling, bling and more bling from Byzantian jewels to Cartier crowns all in the same room!  Everything is stunning and the older the piece, the more decorative and gorgeous.  This broach is a ‘chest plate’ for a woman’s bodice (can you imagine the dress),  but the special glory of the gallery was Queen Victoria’s sapphire and diamond coronet, commissioned and designed by Prince Albert (there really aren’t adequate words).

Even the entrance to the V&A Museum is grand indeed.  We always stop to marvel at the sight of Chihuly’s blown-glass chandelier cascading into a rotunda of marble sculptures.  It never gets old, even when everything ‘is’ old.

Sometimes you just have to take a day to wander the museum and discover things you didn’t know existed…like the displays of the little biscuit tins that are precious and adorable.  We’ve lost count of our visits to the V&A and we still haven’t seen all the floors and displays!  You could get gloriously lost for weeks.

Before we go, we just had to share the full, behind-the-scenes story of Queen Victoria’s tiara.  The video is so delightful you will think you had been exploring with us.

Then it was back on the train, happily rolling home and very grateful for those first-class seats!  Here’s to first-class delight and enjoyment!

Until our next adventure….

Ah…nothing better than a birthday in the countryside just outside our town.  No need for a petsitter or train, just the little red car, sunshine and our National Trust member cards (love this membership).

First stop, lunch at Kingston’s ‘The Juggs’ pub established in 1400’s.  Sitting outside amongst all the flowers enjoying the sun, listening to the birds singing and horses clopping by, and enjoying great food, perfection.  It’s not often Dr T is so tall she has to duck through a pub door.

Next stop the village of Rodmell just down the road for a visit to the country home and gardens of Virginia Woolf.  She shared Monk’s House with her husband Leonard and it is literally out our back door.  The house is so divine and quirky it took our breath away.

Bohemian style cottages are an absolute ‘treat’ to both of us.  We instantly felt surrounded by calm and inspiring energy.  Every corner and every room held something wonderful to enjoy.  And we hadn’t even gone outside yet (but the views were enticing).

The Monk’s House gardens are vast:  lawns, lakes, bowling greens, orchards, sculptures, small flower beds, and many benches where you can sit and soak up the birdsong, scents and magnificent views.

And then, the piece de resistance, the very thing we were so excited to see…right there at the back of the garden…Virginia Woolf’s writing cottage.  A simple but profound place where she wrote the novels we had both studied in our womens studies courses and loved to read.  In fact, we declare, every woman must read ‘A Room Of One’s Own’.  Who wouldn’t be inspired to write surrounded by gardens and an orchard just outside your door.  Standing in this little gem of literary inspiration was a ‘pinch us moment’ we could only have dreamt of decades ago.

Village life in Rodmell is so beautiful it was hard to leave, but we will definitely be back again and again as the seasons change.  If you look close you can see  our little town in the distance (told you we lived close by).

We arrived home to a surprise delivery, a huge box from Fortnum & Mason department store (someone has expensive and good taste).  The Burnout Pups got so excited, they love an unexpected box!  The gift?  A cannister of favourite tea and a fabulous biscuit tin that started to play Happy Birthday!!!  That sent the pups wildly over the top…thanks Auntie Sher you know how much you’re loved for this!

Until we share our next adventure, and finish off the biscuits and tea, keep daytripping.

Love,