A night in Blenheim..

It may seem a little strange to go away for a night, and end up in Blenheim, but let me tell you, it is a fun place to visit. Lots of things to see, very pretty setting, some quirky shops, not too crowded...and, if you are into wine (which I am not), a squillion vineyards to visit, some with some cool foody/wine shops to visit. We stopped at The Mudhouse Vineyard which has a number of wee shops at it, one of which is The Quilters Barn...this place was amazing...the biggest selection of quilting fabrics I have ever seen, they have an extensive collection of Kaffe Fasset (hope I have spelled this right!!) fabrics as well, which may interest some of my avid readers!! I have never seen this fabric in the flesh before (until PoppyBlack bought some at Christmas time while visiting Wellington), it is amazing fabric, this particular shop had bolts of it in different varieties, plus fat quarters.

We dropped Stellsy off at the doggery on the way, she seemed happy enough to go in which made it a little less heartbreaking to leave her there. We were in Blenheim by about 10:30ish...the joys of not being big sleeper-in-erers...so we cruised the shops...I got a new floral top, white, grey and (shock-horror) yellow...I will post a photo sometime and get your opinions...it is cheap and cheerful...good for Summer. We then went and checked into our cheap hotel room...got a good deal on wotif.com...the room was great, very similar to the photo below...a real choccies on the pillow affair!!
We then went to the supermarket to fill up our chilly-bin and it was off to the races. Now, don't get the idea we are racing freaks...but it is a fun day out. Lovely weather, great people watching, fun picnic and some horses to watch. We gamble $1 each way on each race..so don't stand to lose much...and we actually came home with enough to pay for dinner. Yippee, and even if we hadn't, we would have only lost $20.
These little ponies caught my eye...no, you couldn't bet on them but they did race...some of them were tiny!!
After the races we went back to the hotel to "freshen up" and to watch some reality tv...then out to an Indian restaurant for tea...very yum food.
The morning saw us rising quite early, some breakfast and then back to Nelson in time to pick dear Stellsy up, she was no worse for wear after her night in dog borstal.
On Sunday Mum, Dad and Nanny came for lunch, bringing fabulous Blueberry muffins with them...so tasty. It was lovely to see them and we were even civilised enough to sit round the table for lunch...don't think Stellar could understand why we were eating at the table...not the usual plate on a knee on the couch.
It was a lovely weekend....shame it couldn't have lasted for several weeks!