Heaven is a place on Earth...

My family and I went to the Exton Street Market on Bank Holiday Monday.

I'd never heard of it before - in truth, I didn't really know where Exton was - but we set forth with hope in our hearts and a few quid in our pockets to go and see what it was all about.

To the uninitiated, Exton is a smallish village the other side of Rutland Water from here, and the Street Market sees as many villagers as want to take part, set up stalls outside their homes selling just about anything and everything.

We meandered around the village chatting to people, and the atmosphere was great.  Numerous food and drink options were available, and there were a whole host of stalls including the obligatory tombolas where we won absolutely nothing.

At the village green we spoke to the Rutland Ferret group, who had a number of ferrets - apparently the collective noun is 'business' - some of whom had been rescued but were now living the high life with their new owners, quite literally, as they had their own hammocks to relax in!

At one house there was a book sale, and the stall holder tried to attract my attention by offering me Fifty Shades of Grey.  Quite why she thought that was the best bet to lure me in is probably better left as a mystery, but when I politely declined she hurriedly added 'But I haven't read it myself!' which I found amusing.

We continued on our journey, briefly stopping at the music stall where there were curiously a lot of Michael Ball CDs for sale.  But in amongst these, and numerous showtune albums, I did spot The Best Of Belinda Carlisle (Vol 1) for the princely sum of £1, which is now playing in my stereo while I type.

I had this on tape originally, which I haven't played for years, and I'd forgotten how good it was.  It turns out that I can still remember most of the words too!