After the promenade, we went back to the hotel and had a lovely refreshing drink of elderflower cordial in the courtyard. Then the others went back to their rooms for a rest before the ball, and I decided to change into modern clothes and check out Horncastle's famous antique shops. There was one just around the corner from the hotel which I was told was a must, so off I went.
This is what greeted me!!! I was looking for material for a regency or victorian gown and a friend told me this was the place to go. The fabric was on the top floor. It was crazy and reminded me of the theatre costume wardrobe at one of my schools. It was a giant Aladdin's cave of fabric, books and crockery. I am a bit of a clean freak and it was a bit too dirty-and-spiderweb covered for me, but luckily I bumped into a friend in the shop who happily dived into the piles and handed out things to me. :)
In the end I actually only bought two things - a lovely blue and white side plate and a 1930s book. Apparently the shop extended right back off the street into two large barns but I only had time to explore a few rooms as I had to get back to the hotel for the ball dance practice.
The Ball
Me outside the hotel during the pre-dancing drinks. The hair curling genius that is Emily, managed to curl my hair and it stayed curled all evening which is unheard of!
An adorable little bear that was sitting in the room where the official photographs were being taken.
The ballroom. I think it would have been nice with some decorations, but at least it was a decent size. The amount of balls I have been to where there just isn't enough room for everyone to dance. The people pictured dancing in this photo were members of the Hampshire Regency Dancers, who did a wonderful display of a few recently discovered Regency quadrilles.
The teddy bear from earlier found a few friends :)
As usual I didn't take many photos at the ball as I was too busy dancing :)
The ball was good but unfortunately the food that the hotel produced was not great. The main course was fine, and there were some delicious macaroons (I ate way too many!!) as part of the pudding, but the rest of the pudding consisted of an under-cooked cake and some rock hard biscuits. When I say rock hard I mean break-a-tooth rock hard.
I was going to write about the Sunday in this post but I think it will make it too big so will give the day its own entire post. :)
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