Seren-dipity

Nearly midnight, and I'm just back from the theatre in Cheltenham, where I attended an amateur production of Edward Albee's Three Tall Women, a play about three different stages of womanhood. This gave rise to some engaging discussions on the way home, which continued in the car, well after we actually arrived back in Stroud.

The Playhouse Theatre is actually the site of the former Montpellier swimming baths, and the room that houses the bar is elegant and well proportioned, in a 1930s style. It must surely be the subject of a future blip: good reason to go back there! However, I'd already chosen a photo before I left, and CleanSteve had played with editing it in iPhoto, by way of a hurried lesson, as I ate my early supper.

Another strikingly hot day had resulted in my wandering around Stroud this afternoon in a daze after doing a massage and attending the blood donor session. I was looking for a small coin purse, but could only find beautiful leather concoctions, at a price, or sparkly sequined things that wouldn't look out of place on Barbie. As I struggled uphill toward the last charity shop on the High Street, I passed the Fair Trade shop called Seren, and thought, Yeah! that's the place!

Having never been in there before, I instantly found what I was looking for, as well as orange and red crocheted necklaces, handmade paper from Nepal in fuschia and golden hues, glassware, and some rather melted but delicious chocolate. I got chatting with the friendly Welsh owner, Ceri, who was happy for me to take photos, including some of her alongside her wares. This was the best of the shop bunch, because it shows the other side of the street, viewed through a jug. There's the bookshop, Inprint, no.31, and the Vintage shop, which seems to have gone hat-happy in the heat. A red lantern on the left and a pyramid of blue glassware on the right, just out of shot, lend colour to the scene.