Gnome Sweet Gnome

When I saw all these gnomes gathered in the shop window of White Stuff (the shop that had the drunk gingerbread man, the squirrel-headed people, the biggest tosser poster, the caravan and the dog leaping through a hoop) I was reminded of Gail's Man's post the other day. As always the White Stuff's window display has nothing to do with the clothes they are selling, which is part of the fun, but is promoting 'Give A Gnome A Home', something we should all consider doing in these financially difficult times! Quite a few of the little chaps have tags around their necks saying who has adopted them. Cute!

Today is my birthday (yay for me!) and we are off to Bristol to see something very cool! More on that tomorrow.

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Caravan Club

I've not shown you my favourite Cheltenham shop window for a while - so here it is. The display at White Stuff, on the Prom, is geared up for the summer holidays that are rapidly approaching. They are highlighting a great British institution - caravanning.

What makes perfectly normal people take loads of stuff from their house, cram it in a giant tin can on wheels, tow it behind their car for miles and miles, and then live in it for a week, normally in the rain?! I'm not adverse to a caravan holiday myself, but its got to be one of those permanent ones on a holiday site, near the sea. All mod-cons, spacious living, built in toilet and no towing hassle. When we were kids most of our family holidays were spent down in Devon and Cornwall in caravans, and I've had a few holidays in them as a grown up. But with lots more alcohol!

All this brings me nicely to asking a favour of you, my dedicated visitors. I'm off on my holidays next week (Greece. No caravan!) and I wonder if any of you would like to lend me a photo. I'm planning to do a series of posts of other places. You'll get full credit and a link. My email is in my profile. I look forward to hearing from you!

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Pancake Day

How could I resist this one?! Another day, another shop window. This is from one of my favourites in town, the clothes shop White Stuff. Their window displays have featured on Cheltenham DP before and included the drunken gingerbread man and the squirrel headed mannequins.

For those that don't know, or have forgotten, today is Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day. Its the day before Ash Wednesday and signifies the start of Lent. The idea is that you eat up all the things that are forbidden during the period of Lent - eggs, fat, sugar - these are made into a batter and fried into flat...um...pancakes! It seems here in the UK its the one day of the year we have pancakes, unlike other countries who have them year round, like France and America. I'll be having some this evening, covered in lemon juice and sugar, very traditional!

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Jumping Through Hoops

After yesterdays serious post its time for something a bit lighter to start the week off. Here is another photo of my favourite shop window in Cheltenham, White Stuff. In the past they have had mannequins with giant squirrel heads and a drunk gingerbread man, now they have a circus! This little chap is jumping through hoops to keep the shoppers entertained!

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Nuts About Fashion

How could I ignore this shop window?! The White Stuff clothes shop always has an entertaining window display and it never fails to catch my eye (my profile photo gingerbread man is from this shops window.) Whoever comes up with these ideas is worth their money, but what is going on in their mind to come up with squirrel headed mannequins?!

Night On The Ginger Beer

In Cheltenham we don't have many large stores with extravagant Christmas window displays like other towns and cities. Ours just tend to be mannequins in party gear with hanging baubles and fairy lights in the background. But this window is great! A drunk gingerbread man in his Y fronts, complete with traffic cone, about to get a bashing from his gingerbread wife with a rolling pin! The store didn't want to lose sight of what its trying to sell, hence the mannequin in party gear to the side of the impending gingerbread earful!

Click on the photo for a larger version and check out all the detail.