Bath to Shaftesbury - two days in the country

Last weekend we had a reason to go to Bath and via the power of Instagram and friends who I have met through that community, I made some pit-stops to some wonderful places.  I thought you might like to see what I discovered. 

In Bath we were recommended to eat in a cafe called the Foodie Bugle  Placed in a cute row of lovely shops in Margaret's Buildings, the food is lovely, and the shop has great things for the home and kitchen, I picked up some lovely old fashioned wooden scrubbing and pot brushes, so much nicer than the plastic ones.

Bath is filled to the brim with all the best stores like Anthropologie, and while I did pop there for a few things (their cupboard door knobs are the best), I was more interested in the out of the way places.

So we made a few detours on the way home to Buckinghamshire via Mere and Shaftesbury.

Sprout And Flower is the most wonderful shop and I so wish it was on my doorstep.  Selling a combination of food and flowers, styled most impeccably and extremely reasonably priced, their choice of flowers and plants is amazing for such a small shop.  I bought some lovely bulbs which I planted up in a wooden trough with moss, a hellibore in an old tin can, some hyacinths in lovely vintage terracota pots and lots more.  There isn't much else in Mere but Sprout and Flower are most definitely a destination shop.

Next on the list of places to visit was Shaftesbury.  Since the Hovis bread advert in the 1970's, the steep cobbled hill lined with gorgeous traditional cottages was put firmly in the nation's hearts by this tv ad. Gold Hill still attracts visitors to the town, which has some lovely cafes and shops as well.  We met up with fellow instagram stylist and candle maker Amalia whose account is called __apothecary__ and her photos are a real delight. Amalia makes fragranced candles in lovely old blue glass Ball jars which I like to keep in stock at home. 

Amalia also took around two great antique emporiums, Kingsettle and Dairy House are next to each other in Station Road, just a little way out of town.   For fabulous authentic rustic country, you can't get better than these.  I found a few things that I've had an eye out for, a really old large chopping board and the wooden trough, both pictured above. 

The road home took us past Stonehenge which I snapped from the car. I always want to quote the film Spinal Tap whenever I hear the word Stonehenge ... don't get me started.

Hope I have given you some ideas of places to visit, we will most certainly be heading back this way again soon.  I'm quite falling in love with Wiltshire and Dorset.