Our local Whittard of Chelsey shop is closing down, as they cannot pay the exorbitant rent. I'm rather saddened by this. I love this little shop, which is the only shop in Witney, dedicated to tea and coffee. Of course, there is plenty of tea in supermarkets, and you can order online, but it's not the same. I rarely go to Oxford, so that visiting Whittard there is not an option for me.
Marriotts Walk (shopping centre) doesn't give a hoot about empty shops. It is slowly turning into a ghost town.
I collect tea tins/caddies. You can see some of my tea collection on the top shelf in the kitchen (I don't dare to show all the tea I've got, in fact, it's strategically placed all over the kitchen, so that nobody knows how many tins and boxes I have exactly. I should join the Teaholics Anonymous club.
To be fair, quite a few of these tins are empty, or only have a small amount left at the bottom, for reference, like Twinings Royal Weddding tin, or Twinings 90th celebration.
Overall, the weather has been pretty abysmal in the last week, but whenever there was a short sunny spell, we had a walk or ventured to the playground.
We haven't been walking through the flood fields for several days, so not sure when this tree has fallen across the path. The wooden fence of the house next to the fields was creaking ominously when we walked underneath the tree.
Mid-week I posted a review of The Surplus Girls by Polly Heron. It's a family saga set in Manchester in 1922. This is the third book by the author that I've read, and I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing another one by the same author (written under a different name).
It was bucketing all day, and though I had to go out for a quick shopping, I didn't take any photos except for Eddie's latest hair-cut. Here is a photo from our Monday visit to the playground.
This tree looks like it's praying, or asking for mercy. Or maybe dancing?
A quick trip to M&S to get school trousers. While getting some Percy pigs, we saw the shelves are already stacked with Hallowe'en candy, how bizarre is that?! I suppose, we'll soon see Christmas gifts all around as well.
We had a movie night with pizza and a DVD of Hercules with Dwayne Johnson (got it for a pound at Poundland). I was slightly dreading it, but it turned out to be better than I thought.
Woke up yesterday morning to sad news that Chadwick Boseman died. We're big fans of Marvel movies, and he was great as The Black Panther. Remember that scene from Avengers Infinity War, where he shouts Wakanda Forever! He was so young, and an iconic superhero.
On the way into town I noticed the clouds were arranged like shelves one over the other.
I did have a little giggle at the idea of you secreting tea caddies all over the house ! It's a shame that the shop has gone though. I thought the same thing when I went through town on the bus the other day. There are lots of gaps where shops have disappeared during the pandemic. Very sad. Wow, Eddie looks so high at the playground ! No Halloween things in the shops here yet but it's nice to look forward to better times ahead. I can't see many people going out trick or treating this year though.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cheryl, we have so many shops closing down, including the big Debenhams and M&Co, and now Whittard. We do like Halloween isles, but perhaps not in summer. :)
DeleteYou have a lovely blog! Chatty, personal blogs are some of my favourite. I’m a big tea fan too so I enjoyed seeing your tea collection. :-) That tree looks very characterful and I admire your eye for detail. Halloween can be a fun time of the year to do themed baking. Poundland do some good bargains, I might have to look in their film section. I enjoyed your day snippets. Hope to chat again sometime. :-) xx
ReplyDeleteHelen | Helen’s Fashion, Beauty & Lifestyle Blog
Thank you, Helen! We like the DVD section in Poundland, and often find "treasures" there. :)
DeleteI love all the tea tins. My great aunt collects them too.
ReplyDeleteIt was a awful week weather wise. It looks like you made the most of the dry spells. That climbing frame looks fantastic.
It seems too early for Halloween treats. We're still in August. Eesh!
We watched Black Panther today, the first time for me and it is brilliant. I will be watching it again! x
I think in the long run these shopping centres will lose, as more empty spaces means a less pleasant experience for people so less people will visit them and so on. I was thinking of car parking. The rules are still in place in Liverpool, same prices, free only after 6pm. If they would have made free parking for a couple of months it would have been better. I don't want to travel with the bus, but I'm happy to go to shops/restaurants and I think many are in the same situation as I am.
ReplyDeleteLove that picture of Eddie in the playground, how nice.
It does seem too soon for the holiday to be over - it has gone so fast this year. And we have done next to nothing.It's a pity the shop is closing. Hopefully you'll be able to buy nice tea somewhere else, but not the same as on the doorstep.
ReplyDeleteOh no such a shame about the shop. Seems like a lot of the small, unique shops are struggling.
ReplyDeleteWe love Black Panther and was so sad to hear the news too!
Wow, that playground equipment looks brilliant. We have the same issue with shops closing everywhere in Banbury. Although everyone on our local Facebook page raves about Witney because of the free parking. We're the only town outside Oxford in most of the county where there's no free car parks.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame that your local Whittards is closing down. I do love your collection of tea caddies. We have a kitchen drawer full of different types of tea so I can relate! That playground looks fun. I’d have been nervous walking under the fallen tree with the fence creaking. Crazy to see Halloween sweets in the shops already. #project366
ReplyDeleteThe clouds look like they're lining up to go somewhere. I have lots of tea and a few caddies, but no that many. Hope back to school went well
ReplyDeleteThat's quite an impressive collection of tea caddies. I love tea but am not very adventurous I always stick to Breakfast tea! Yikes that Halloween candy is very creepy! I love chocolate but not sure I am brave enough to eat it.
ReplyDeleteSeeing the Halloween sweets on the selves just goes to show how quickly this year has disappeared! Amazing collection of Tea caddies! I'm not much of a Tea drinker but I did enjoy the odd Green Tea collection especially the ginger bread flavour!
ReplyDeleteI'm not ready to think about Halloween or Christmas yet! That playground looks amazing, better than any local ones here :( #project366
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the tea shop, love all your caddies I always liked looking at the ones in Fortunum and Mason at Christmas. I am guessing we wont be doing that this year. I am not ready for Halloween yet!
ReplyDeleteAwww its a shame that your favorite shop is closed. Hahaaha you should join the club, the tea boxes look cool. Wow, the playground looks so cool. The tree could be doing all three. i can kind of see a pair of eyes on the tree. Woah, creepy fingers. It was very sad to hear of his demise, I was really looking forward to see his movies in the future
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! All those tea tins are amazing! What a fabulous collection! I have to admit to picking up limited edition pretty tins, they are so nice to look at and have many storage uses!
ReplyDeleteNow that is an epic climbing frame, I know a little lady who would be up there in a flash! Hope you are having a lovely week! Sim x
It's a shame that the shop has gone. Eddie looks high at the playground. I can't see many people going out trick or treating this year though xxx
ReplyDeleteYour playground looks brillant, wish we had something as good as that near us. Shame your Whittard's is closing, hopefully you will get a tea caddy bargain for your collection
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