♥ Our Valentine's Day ...

... wasn't the most romantic yet and that isn't a criticism directed at my Husband. :)  We started the day rather early and swapped cards over breakfast. ♥

♥ But the 14th was the day that Fay had her operation booked to have a wisdom tooth removed.  What bad timing!  The poor girl had one tooth attached to the bone so that it couldn't fully break through.  So we were up early and on the road to take her to hospital.  I took a few goodies with us, which included soup for Fay. :)  I had also made a Battenburg cake for her and one for Jay, who we would be seeing the next day.  Her op went well and she had no after effects from the general anaesthetic.  In fact she went out the next day with friends on a pre-arranged trip! ♥

♥ That evening my Husband and I went to The Picture House for a meal. ♥

♥ We thought it would be busy as it was Valentine's Day, but it was half empty. ♥

♥ I think the bad weather has kept a lot of people indoors.  We came prepared with our raincoats. ♥

♥ Friday night and the main street in Stafford was empty. ♥

♥ The next morning Fay phoned to say she was fine and off out, so we headed to Stoke-on-Trent to the Emma Bridgewater Factory Shop.  There aren't any tours of the factory at the weekends, so we will be visiting again, at a time when we aren't in such a rush and we can see more of the area too. ♥

♥ The shop was the aim of our visit on Saturday

and this is why - my Valentine gift from my Husband. ♥

♥ In the restaurant the tables were set especially for Valentine celebrations. ♥

♥ Next we headed towards Birmingham to visit Jay. ♥

♥ But first we made a little detour.  We have driven past this shop several times and I must have been asleep!!  If I had noticed, we would definitely have stopped!  This is the needlework shop opened by Lauren who was on season one of The Great British Sewing Bee. ♥

 ♥ I was in my element here - it's a good job I have an understanding husband! :) ♥

 ♥ I had heard about this magazine before, but this was the first time I had seen it in a shop. ♥

♥ It is full of lovely patterns, including these. ♥

♥ I found some Mini material - happy bunny time! :) ♥

♥ And I immediately fell for this fox material and matched it up with the toadstool fabric. ♥

 ♥I dragged myself away and we met up with Jay and had lunch in the Bullring. ♥

 ♥ We walked around a little, but it was wet and cold, so we headed into the shops again. ♥

♥ In the evening we ate at Bella Italia and then it was time for us to travel home. ♥