THE ADMIRAL HORNBLOWER (Oakham)

Our first visit to Oakham wasn't exactly a raging success, but this time was much, much better. The Admiral Hornblower was newly refurbished and very smart inside, lots of stone walls and wooden tables etc. Food was nice too, I had sausages and mash and Rose had fish and chips, for pudding I had a chocolate and caramel marquise (whatever the hell that is) with mango ice cream, whereas Rose plumped for three flavours of ice cream.

After we'd finished, Lee took us off to the 'Mill Street Bar and Kitchen', which was also newly done up and aside from some dodgy seating was also quite nice inside. We had a drink there before heading back to Wingfield House'

DOG AGILITY SHOW (Rockingham Castle)

Thankfully the forecast heatwave didn't hit (yet?) and so we made a quick trip over to Corby to see the dog agility wotsit. It was fun and there were some lovely dogs there, but it did get a bit samey after a while. A couple of hours was enough, but the event went on for four days. Seriously, four days of dogs jumping over fences - that seems more than a slight abundance.

Fluffy dogs are the cutest without a doubt!

 "WEAVE!!!!!"

S U P E R - C U T E !

MAJOR PURCHASE: TAG Heuer Formula One WA1110-0.FT6024

Saw this on eBay listed at £499, but Rich found it on the guys own webshop for £450. I took a punt on buying direct and was super happy when I got it. The photos made it look like it was a little beat-up, which as I wanted it as a daily watch was not a problem, especially given the super cheap price. But when I got it I was surprised how much better condition it was than I was expecting.

MAJOR PURCHASE: TAG Heuer Carrera 01 (Iconic Watches)

 

A long time coming, but I finally pulled the trigger on this, my most expensive watch purchase to date. After a lot of hesitation, I decided the discount on offer from Iconic was too good to turn down (list price £4000, their price £3290 - leaving more than enough to buy an everyday F1 off eBay!).

It wasn't the easiest place to find, but Iconic was great. They only had a small stock of basic TAGs and Omega's (plus one Audemars Piguet, that I never really got a good look at), but it wasn't really a big deal. It seems all their stock is in boxes and I guess if you want to see something they bring it out for you.

Strangely the shutters on the front of the shop haven't been opened for 5 years, you have to press the intercom button to get in. Apparently they are way too busy to deal with passing trade. The staff were great, very friendly and the watch appears to be absolutely perfect. I will definitely use them again.

SHOPPING: The Trafford Centre (Manchester)

This was a very last minute thing this day out. Having ordered my new TAG from Iconic on Monday, I was informed on Friday that my watch was ready for collection (it was supposed to take a month!). So we quickly arranged a trip to collect and decided to make a day of it with a meal out and a trip to the Trafford Centre.

We didn't leave until about 10am, and after a stop off at the services (where I noticed they were selling giant Bourbon biscuits in the shop for £1.49, and I mean one large bourbon biscuit - I concluded that people who stop at services really must loose their minds if they are paying for this shit, which they must be or they wouldn't stock them) we had to leave the motorway to avoid 'long delays'.

We therefore arrived a little later than anticipated at the restaurant (Spread Eagle, Mellor) which was very nice and didn't leave until well after three. After stopping off in Blackburn to collect my watch we headed off to the Trafford Centre and spent a very enjoyable couple of hours there.

Rose tried on a Breitling in Goldsmiths, while I scammed a lush catalogue. Then I tried on a couple of Aquaracers in Beaverbrooks and we checked out the Omega boutique where Rose spied a couple of nice Constellation watches she liked the look of.

I also saw this Oris, which looked really cool but I didn't get to try on...

We also paid a visit to Selfridges where I bought Rose some Jo Malone body lotion and of course no visit to the Trafford Centre would be complete without a visit to Hotel Chocolat for some serious restocking. We were struck by how pleasant an experience it was, and how nice all the staff in the shops were. The woman in Boots even gave Rose a £5 voucher off something she was going to buy anyway.

We found the Trafford Centre much nicer this time and spent a goodly amount of time indulging ourselves in the jewellers, trying on loving sparkly watches and it was pretty awesome. Overall it was nothing short of a fantastic day!

MEAL OUT: The Spread Eagle (Mellor)

A pit stop on the way to Blackburn to visit Iconic Watches, we chose the Spread Eagle off the internet the night before and despite being a little way out of Blackburn it was definitely worth the extra few miles. The place was very nice inside, very modern and not unlike a more colourful Grey Goose. Rose and I both had steak, which was good (not outstanding, but good) and for pudding Rose had a strawberry tart and I had a chocolate and pistachio cheesecake, both of which were fantastic.

All in all it was very nice and surprisingly the place is on the verge of closing down for refurbishment.