Waffles, Wallington and We've got whiskey, gin, vodka, whatever you like

There wasn't a post on Thursday as I chose to save Waffle Day until Saturday morning.

That way we could have them as a breakfast treat without having to rush.

We wanted to go out and about today.

G is working tomorrow and Monday will probably be spent doing stuff at home so for Saturday we wanted to go out but it needed not to be too far from home.

G used to work in Fareham and isn't so keen on revisiting but I suggested it as a possibility as I had found details of a walk we could try.

First up we had to walk along the high street where we did a little window shopping, spotting this great Unhappy Birthday card in a vintage shop and huge wooden pink button in a haberdashery shop, before making our way to Wallington village hall.

The start of the walk is an industrial estate but nature was very close at hand, quite literally. This butterfly was sat on the road and would have been squished by a passing car but G picked it up to try and put it somewhere a little safer.

Once past the industrial estate and over a motorway bridge we were surrounded by farm land and some wonderful countryside views.

There was time for a little posing as we made our way towards

 a pub for some much needed liquid refreshment.

It was at this point we decided to end the walk.

We had arrived at a row of picturesque cottages in Wallington and there was still a lot more of the self guided walk to do but we had to keep an eye on the time.

We were at a point from where we could easily pick the walk up again another time and so headed back.

It had been lovely being out for a short sunny walk. 

Whilst out today I saw a dress on a vintage rail in a charity shop which would be the perfect outfit for someone to wear to a 70s party

or drinks evening like the one in Abigail's Party.

The female lead in this play is Alison Steadman and it's her birthday today.

This evening G and I have put our feet up and are enjoying some nuts, nibbles and cheese and pineapple a la Beverley Moss

Children's TV

On the first weekend of half term G, S and I took the train to Portsmouth.

There was a reason we went there which I shall get to in just a mo.

However our first stop, as it so often is, was for lunch.

In the summer lunch is usually a picnic, but in cold and wet February it was in a family friendly pub.

The building was once the offices for a local gas company and so before we go any further there's a couple of things to share from there.

Whilst waiting for S outside the ladies I took a photo of the old window directly above me

and the one directly in front of me. Looks like it and the banister next to it could do with a bit of a dust off!

Flanking the main entrance are two plaques dedicated to the men of the Portsea Island Gas Company who gave their lives during WW1.
Only right and proper these remained in place.

So to the reason for our trip. 
An exhibition of children's TV through the ages was being held and the chance to see it was drawing to an end as it was due to close within the next week.
I'm so glad we went.
Greeting us on arrival is the costume worn by the actor who played Fizz in the Tweenies. Fizz was S's favourite character.

Situated in another part of the museum was Jake, T's favourite Tweenie. He won't thank me for sharing that I'm sure!

There wasn't too much within the exhibition that S was familiar with, but she has always liked a bit of Rastamouse

and I found it amusing when she pointed to this little fellow and said 'Mum do you recognise who this one is?' She thought he was a recent creation of her TV children's TV generation and hadn't realised that Morph goes way back.

Another recent addition to children's TV is a new series of the old favourites The Clangers and this is a model of one of the new ones.

T was on a school trip in Madrid that weekend and even if he had been home I know he wouldn't have accompanied us but there was so much he would have recognised. 

All his favourites.

When we became a family his most favourite thing was Bob the Builder and his machines.

T had such poor speech delay back then and he couldn't say any of these words correctly and so it was more like Bo ye Builyer.

This machine is called Scoop, for obvious reasons.

Oh my word how many times did we hear the theme tune played for these next two. T had videos of Brum

and Rosie and Jim which we watched countless times.
Happy, happy memories.

G was very excited to see the original Pob puppet, this is one I don't remember at all.

Another highlight for him was this piece of original artwork from Captain Pugwash. Can you see the strips of paper coming out from the left side and the bottom? These work the arms and such to make the characters move.

For me there were 4 stand out items which I have to say really made my day.
First up two annuals. One for Mary, Mungo and Midge and the fantastic Camberwick Green. Two programmes which I loved.

And just look who it is...... Humpty!!!!
An original Humpty.
So, so exciting.

And if that wasn't enough there was an original Little Ted too.

To be honest my day was complete after seeing these two but it was taken up a notch further when the next thing I saw was an original Fingermouse.
What a treat it was to see these familiar objects from my childhood.

I've been to the museum a couple of times, the last time the children came with me during the school hols but G has never been so we made our way around the rest of the museum.

Should you ever be in Portsmouth I recommend a visit as they have lots of different permanent exhibitions which are well worth a look.

You can also get married here and as the door was open we had a peek and this beautiful painting was on the wall.

I've shared parts of the museum before but here's a few more from this trip.
I loved this decorative thistle light fitting which hung at the sea front during the mid 50's.

Part of a 1950's room set

Cosmetics from the 1950s and 1940s 

There is also a small art gallery in the building and within it we found this painting of a train approaching Fareham along the Wallington viaduct. A scene familiar to us as you can see from this post and it was a treat to see too.