Chandelier heaven

No putting off today, quite excited to get up and take my third in line daughter (there's four of them so the big two, little two or the two in the middle normally cover it .. but we went out on our own today, which was a lovely treat) off to the beautiful City of Bath for a visit to the Fashion Museum.

The elegant public Assembly Rooms were at the heart of fashionable 18th-century Bath life. The center of fashionable Georgian society and the perfect venue for entertainment. When completed in 1771, they were described as 'the most noble and elegant of any in the kingdom'.

The Assembly Rooms are part of a stunning Grade I listed building owned by the National Trust. Adorned with the original Whitefriars crystal chandeliers and housing portraits by Gainsborough, Ramsey and Hoare it is a stunning place for a venue. I had the honour of decorating the tables in the Tea room (which is way grander then it sounds) for our Young Guiders Centenary celebrations in 2010. With most of the girls in Regency costume and music of the time being played it really did feel authentic to it's time.

The Fashion Museum is on lower ground floor, and my only criticism would be is that the most beautiful clothes, from the tissue paper dress of 1660 through to the Alexander McQueen Dress of the year 2011 are a little compacted, and sometimes distant. There is a fantastic commentary with each piece and the whole dressing up area is fantastic for children and grown ups alike, but a little more space around to help see the intricacies of the most wonderful creations would be a dramatic improvement. It would probably require a huge amount of redevelopment work so I will remain satisfied with the layout for now. Some visiting exhibitions are held in the upstairs ballroom which are worth looking out for.

We came home to find hubby has broken the tumble dryer, well I blamed him as he used it last. So we called for our trusty repair chap, who also looks after royal dishwashers .. I can divulge no more. He checked it out and it looks like our belt snapped and after 8 years of tireless service it needs replacing. The Maytag tumble driers don't get made anymore, which means as time goes on the parts will become harder to come by I suppose, but if the next belt lasts for 8 years (along with the rest of the machine) I won't be complaining and then by then I presume I will be able to refer to it as retro -or vintage??